


The Weight of Our Choices

by Wandering_Mind_95



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, Akatsuki - Freeform, Canon-Typical Violence, Disability, Eventual Relationships, Family isn't always blood, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Friendship, Gen, Genderswap, Moral Ambiguity, Naruto is a girl, Rule 63, Shit happens and life sucks, Team Dynamics, humanity Examined
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2018-10-05 20:34:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10316459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wandering_Mind_95/pseuds/Wandering_Mind_95
Summary: Being a Jinchuuriki was never easy but with the cooperation of Kyuubi and the support of Kakashi and Jiraiya, maybe she could survive. She still has too many secrets to discover before she'd ever let Akatsuki get their hands on her! Who said life would ever be dull around Uzumaki Naruto, especially with teammates like Kyo and Seka and you can't forget Sasuke. What's her connection to the Uchiha family? Read on as she discovers what it means to be a shinobi.Will add tags the farther we get into the story.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Introducing Team 7: Naruto, Kyo, and Seka. And their sensei, Jiraiya.  
> Naruto doesn't care for Jiraiya-  
> Kyo hates Jiraiya-  
> Jiraiya doesn't trust Kyo-  
> And Seka...he's just trying to figure out where he fits in all this.
> 
> What are Kyo's intentions?!!
> 
> Language, explosions, arguments, Uchiha's ruin everything, and more secrets!

"Is anyone hit?" Kyo shouted once the barrage had subsided. He had been separated from the group when they had unintentionally set off a multitude of traps.

"We're fine, just some cuts and-"

The rest of the sentence was cut off by a violent explosion that hurled the gennin through the nearest trees and destroyed the surrounding landscape.

Kyo was the only one left unscathed as he had wrapped himself in a chakra cloak as soon as he had sensed the explosion. Cursing his luck, the demon raced towards where Naruto had been before the explosion, Minato's words replaying over and over in his head, 'You can be drawn back into the seal if Naruto is ever depleted of chakra or near death.'

Those two situations had yet to be encountered but Kyo wasn't looking to find out how true all of that was. He never wanted to look upon that cage in all his remaining years!

The explosion had kicked up a minor dust storm that had yet to settle when he found the epicenter of the explosion; this made finding his useless teammates challenging but not impossible for the ancient demon. When he finally located his container, a scowl appeared across his unmarred face. The two were buried under the fallout of the explosion. From what he could see, it looked like they had been really close to the detonation site. From his vantage, he could only assume Naruto was unconscious as she wasn't moving for once in her life. He wasn't sure about Seka, there was a 23% chance he hadn't survived. Which would be unfortunate as Kyo considered him slightly above tolerable as he didn't have to hear his voice ever. His inward inclination went unanswered as the slight rise and fall of Seka's chest could be seen from where he stood. This brought up another matter. 'I thought this was supposed to be an exercise! That idiotic human could've killed them!'

Cursing Madara and Hashirama for getting him into this situation in the first place, Kyo cloaked himself in his chakra once again, using his tails to lift the heavier debris off his teammates. The mission was at a standstill until the two were awake and fit to move. Pulling Naruto out first, he checked to make sure her chakra was okay before setting her against one of the few trees that remained standing. Going after Seka next made him pause. Looking at the tiny human, he was reminded of his father's youngest son, Asura. His bandana had been blown off in the explosion revealing his spiky, chocolate brown hair. If he just added-

Shaking his head, Kyo growled at himself. This was not his father's son, he did not care for humans any longer. Never again, not after all they have done to his family.

Lifting the child up, Kyo set him on the other side of Naruto, not bothering to be gentle. Looking at how defenseless they were, Kyo entertained the thought of killing both of them right then and there. It would be so easy, a quick kunai to the heart and they would both be out of their misery. How he longed to feel the blood of his enemy's dripping down his hands, to feel their fear as they realized how pointless their struggle was. But he couldn't because of those blasted humans! He was stuck as one of them now, forced to protect his prison! Him, the most powerful of the bijuu, reduced to nothing but a bodyguard.

A flare of chakra broke him out of his tirade, reminding him of his position. They should be the only people out here so a flare of chakra was something to be keenly suspicious about. Positioning himself in front of his unconscious teammates, Kyo relaxed into what some would call an arrogant stance. He had his weight shifted to his left leg and his left hand resting in his pants pocket. His eyes told a different story; they were focused straight ahead, concentrating on nothing but the long stretch of darkness, dimly illuminated by the dying flames of the recent explosion.

The chakra was getting stronger so someone was heading their way, fast.

Whoever it was, they were just about to pass into Kyo's vision. He was prepared to incinerate the trespasser if it turned out to be Jiraiya. Ready to launch his attack, the red head counted down

3…2…1…

43 hours earlier:

At 11 years old, Naruto was the youngest graduate of her class by a year. Sarutobi knew that there was no way he could hold her back for another year, she had to graduate this year or else she would do something drastic. The pranks were already getting out of hand! He was worried to let her out of the village, Jiraiya had informed him of the organization, Akatsuki, that were after the Jinchuuriki. They were a group of S-Classed rouge shinobi, a group Orochimaru was once a part of. The fact that his former student was a part of this organization was what worried him. There were few things that held the snake's interest and the fact that he was with this group for a number of years was enough to cause worry. But with Jiraiya finally returning to the village, he had to allow her to graduate. With his eccentric student as her sensei, she would be the most protected gennin in the village.

Naruto was already angry at him because of his refusal to allow her to graduate the year previous. Maybe with Jiraiya as her sensei she would understand, there was no reason for her to graduate any earlier. They were not a war. The only other issue he faced with her was who her other teammate would be. There were not many options for her team which only needed one more person. They needed someone who had potential and whose personality would mesh well with the unpredictability of Naruto's and the aloofness of Kyo's.

There was only one graduate who fit those requirements. It looks like Jiraiya was going to have his hands full with this bunch. Payback for all those years of hell the pervert put him through!

 

Happy that she was finally allowed to sit for the graduation exams, Naruto walked into the assigned classroom in her classic strut gaining a few odd looks but fortunately no one said anything, more worried about passing their test than some weird girl walking into the classroom. The written test caused her minor anxiety as she was not good at taking tests and she didn't pay enough attention in class to remember a lot of the stuff. She felt confident on the questions about stealth and the shinobi system but she had no idea about the shinobi code or rules! She remembered learning about them but Kakashi had never put mush emphasis on them when they spoke of it. Why did it matter what Rule #25 was and why it was important in battle?

The other two tests were fairly simple. The spar was quick and easy, she lasted the full five required minutes against the instructor. The last exam was by far the most intriguing. She had known about the three jutsu since she began living with Kakashi. She had scared him one day when she suddenly created twenty-five Shadow Clones. He about had a heart attack before he was able to question her on where she learned the jutsu. She happily told him that she saw Shisui practice it one day and was learning it in secret to surprise him before he had died. Kakashi made her promise not to use it unless he was around to supervise her. But she totally used it to finish her chores when he wasn't around!

The other two she had mastered with Kakashi's guidance early on in their training. He stressed that no matter how simple they may seem, they could one day save her life. Needless to say, she freaked Iruka, the instructor, out when she decided to create ten Shadow Clones instead of the Academy clone. All he could do was hand her a headband which she gladly took, tying it around her neck.

Walking out of the room, Naruto decided to wait for Kyo to return as he had gone in after her. Looking around, she studied the rest of the gennin hopefuls for the first time and saw a familiar face: Uchiha Sasuke. Glaring at him, she smugly tightened her new forehead protector around neck. The Uchiha noticed what she was doing and the meaning behind it, and fumed. Returning her glare, students began to back away from the two, afraid to get stuck in the crossfire. They could feel the tension in the room rise, some of the weaker students were too scared to move, the tension too great from them to bare.

Moving closer to her childhood rival, Naruto couldn't resist taunting him. "I guess being a boy isn't everything-11 and a gennin, looks like I'm closer to being Hokage than you, Tomato." She leaned in closer to gloat and show off her shiny new headband. She was just inches from his face when she was suddenly knocked forward from behind. 'Wha-?'

It was like everything happened in slow motion: Kyo enter the classroom, calling out the next student's name who happened to be sitting in front of Sasuke. Nervous, the student rushed out of his seat, bumping into Naruto on accident, pushing her off balance as she had been leaning forward already. Unable to catch herself, Naruto could do nothing as she began to fall. She realized where she was heading a millisecond before it happened. Sasuke, caught up in his irritation for the blond, was too late to react fast enough to avoid the situation.

The entire classroom was shocked into silence as they witnessed the impossible: Sasuke was kissing a girl! In the back, money exchanged hands as students had to pay up on the bet that had been going on since the previous year that Sasuke wouldn't have his first kiss before the end of the Academy (if ever).

Coming to her senses after a full 10 seconds, Naruto pushed herself violently off of Sasuke. "You, you, you BASTARD!" People close to the two winced at the sound of the punch the blond threw at the last Uchiha. It sounded like it hurt. "You took my first kiss! How could my first kiss be Tomato!?" The fan girls in the room were torn between crying that they weren't Sasuke's first kiss or going over to that little harlot and tearing her a new one for daring to talk to Sasuke like that!

"It wasn't any better for me Kinpōge! Like I'd wanna kiss a halfwit like you! I'll be lucky if I don't get whatever disease you have." Now, all of the students were in shock, either about the kiss or that Sasuke actually spoke. No one had seen much emotion out of the last Uchiha and here this mysterious girl comes in and not only kisses and insults him, but gets him to talk!

"What was that!?" Naruto was about to pounce on the smug boy when her shirt was suddenly grabbed from the back.

"What. Is. Going. On?" Came the deadly question from behind her. Each word emphasized with barely contained ire.

Not seeing everyone's petrified face as they stared at their teacher, Naruto turned around promptly to explain what the bastard had done and immediately froze as she finally took in the appearance of her instructor. There were few times Naruto would ever say she was truly frightened, like she could count them all on one hand! This definitely made her Top 5. Squeaking out a barely audible 'nothing', Naruto hurried to her spot next to Kyo who did nothing but glare at her and Sasuke, actually, the glare was focused mostly towards Sasuke.

Naruto silently thanked whatever higher power there was that this Iruka had not been her Academy instructor, he was terrifying! That was saying something as she lived with Kakashi and the Kyuubi for the past few years!

Seeing that everything was handled, Iruka went back to the connected classroom to finish the rest of the examinations. He returned a few minutes later to a quiet classroom. Satisfied that his students were finally behaving, he began his congratulations speech finishing with instructions to meet back here at nine o'clock tomorrow for their team assignments. With a final congratulations, he released them for a final time to go celebrate with their families. Reality came crashing down on the newly graduated students as they rushed out to find their parents and tell them of their achievement.

Naruto and Kyo walked out at a sedated pass, turning away from the painful scene to head to the Hokage Monument stairs. While she had come to terms with her parent's death, it still hurt that there was no one there to congratulate her. There was a time…but no, it was in the past and nothing worth dwelling on. Kakashi had left for a mission a few days ago so was unable to make it and while it disappointed Naruto , she understood that her guardian was an important member of the shinobi force and was needed elsewhere. What was the happiness of one little girl compared to the safety of the entire village? As they walked out, she caught a glimpse of Sasuke walking alone towards the Uchiha Compound. He was like her, no one to celebrate this important day with.

No matter how much the massacre had affected her, Naruto knew Sasuke had it a hundred times worse. Her sorrow-filled eyes followed him as he bypassed the large congregation, no one attempting to say anything to the last Uchiha. She made to go after him when Kyo suddenly tugged her back, telling her they had to go. Letting her friend drag her, Naruto chanced looking back one more time but Sasuke was already gone.

Kyo growled in his head. There was no way he was letting that Uchiha brat near Naruto! They had already caused enough damage as is. The only reason he would willing get close to an Uchiha would be to kill him!

They spent most of the night on top of the Hokage Monument working on Naruto 's control of Kyo's chakra. She couldn't use much without losing control and Kyo wanted her to be able to use it like it was hers. The better able she could handle it now, decreased the likelihood of her losing control when he wasn't around.

 

Like Iruka instructed, they returned to the same room the next day at nine o'clock. Walking into the building, Naruto was greeted by glares from most of the female population. It seemed what happened yesterday got around. Getting to the designated classroom and picking the furthest seat up so she didn't have to deal with the glares, Naruto plopped down next to a boy with a dog on his head. It didn't stop the glares as the perpetrators just turned around in the seats to look at her. Huffing at the insensibility of the female population and their unhealthy obsession with Sasuke, Naruto was relieved when Kyo's glare frightened everyone enough to turn back around.

Walking into a subdued classroom, Iruka was slightly worried but figured that the freshly promoted Gennin were beginning to realize the enormity of the situation and were beginning to mature. Satisfied that they were finally taking his lessons to heart, he began to read out the team assignments, pausing so each team had a chance to let the information sink in before he called the next one. Naruto ignored the commotion of the team assignment since she didn't know any of these people; she just listened for her name to be called off.

"Team 7: Uzumaki Naruto, Ōtsutsuki Kyo, and Maeko Seka. Your sensei is Jiraiya." Many students who paid attention and knew who Jiraiya was, glared jealously at the three teammates. Naruto didn't care that much but she was curious about their new teammate. She thought for sure the old man was going to put Sasuke on her team just to spite Naruto. She was able to find Seka easily as the students were sending him glares. Personally, she didn't think he looked like much from the back. From what she could see, he wore a bandana that covered most of his head but his hair was long enough that it was sticking out past the cloth.

It seemed like he was also curious about his teammates as his head was moving around, scanning the classroom for the two foreign names. When she saw him, Naruto tried not to react. On his left cheek was what looked like a scar in the shape of an X. She had seen plenty of scars like that though, no, what shocked her was his other scar that was partially hidden by his forehead protector around his neck. It was a wound that should've killed him if done right and if done incorrectly, it would cause the victim tremendous pain.

Seka had long since turned back around but Naruto barely noticed. All she could think about was that someone had tried to kill her new teammate at some point in his life. She was shocked into attention though when she heard Kakashi's name called out as an instructor. Looking to Kyo, he didn't seem that surprised. Lamenting on the fact that her guardian had a gennin team this year, Naruto missed the rest of Iruka's talk, not that she noticed. When students began to leave, she finally shook herself out of her thoughts.

"What's going on Kyo?" Truly curious as she hadn't heard a word Iruka said after he mentioned Kakashi's name.

"If you're pathetic human mind could pay attention for more than five minutes you would know!" Growling when his container gave him a blank look, he continued. "We are to wait here until our sensei picks us up."

Nodding, Naruto focused on the empty seats next to their new teammate, ignoring the grumbling about Hokage's who thought they had some kinda power over him. Grabbing Kyo's hand, she led him down the stairs to her newest target. Angered that he was being treated like some child, Kyo wrenched his hand from Naruto 's grip, throwing her a glare which no longer seemed to faze her.

Seka, noticing the two waiting for him, looked up and shared a small smile which was only returned by the exuberant blond.

In her politest voice, Naruto asked if they could seat next to him. Kyo, feeling someone looking in their direction, saw Sasuke throwing an incredulous look at his female companion. It made him want to chuckle. Naruto was never polite around Sasuke, the only time she had been was when they first met five years ago. Sasuke saw Kyo's smirk and his face darkened while Kyo's grin became wider.

Seka motioned for them to sit down which Naruto gladly did. Kyo kept an eye on her, wondering what was going through her mind, she was rarely this open to new people. She had made an amazing recovery from the killings and attacks that took place a few years ago, which was mainly due to Kakashi's influence, but there were times when he could sense something was wrong, a darkness buried deep inside. He knew she was hiding how damaged she truly was but it wasn't really his problem. He was there to make sure she stayed alive, not be her shoulder to cry on.

Naruto started asking questions before she even fully sat down. It was overwhelming for Seka as he could barely follow what she was saying let alone respond to her.

All of a sudden Naruto found a hand in her face. Pausing, she looked at what was wrong with her new teammate. Seka closed his hand and held up one finger before he turned his attention to the chalkboard in front of him. Naruto studied his actions before she came to a startling conclusion: Seka couldn't speak!

Her thoughts were confirmed when he finally held up his small chalkboard. On it was, "Not to be rude, you were talking so fast and didn't look like stopping. I can't talk so I use this to communicate. Sign language is easier though."

Embarrassed, Naruto said her apologies before asking if he could teach her some sign language while they waited for their sensei. Seka's smile took over his entire face at her request. Not many people asked to learn sign language and/or had the determination to stick with it. Shikamaru was the only one with whom he could hold conversations with in sign language, not that the boy was awake enough for him to talk to.

Slowly, he began to show her the basics: hello, bye, hungry, follow me, stop, please, and thank you. Using both his hands and his board to teach her, Naruto had most of the signs down by the time a majority of the other teams were gone.

It was going on 11:30 when the door finally opened. Each of the two teams left waited in anticipation for whose sensei it would be: Kakashi or Jiraiya?

Seeing the gray hair, Naruto slumped forward, it was Kakashi. How could Kakashi beat her sensei here?! No one could be later than Kakashi!

"My first impression of you," looking at the glares directed at him, Kakashi continued, "You're annoying. Meet me up on the roof." Before he could disappear, he noticed the other group besides his team. Shocked that his charge was still here and not with her sensei, he asked her.

"Why are you here, Jiraiya told me he was going to meet you at Training Ground 27?" Kakashi was not prepared for the glare sent his way by Kyo. Bringing his hands up in front of him as a sign of peace, he tried to calm the irate demon. "Mah mah, I'm sure it was an honest mistake. I'll even have Pakkun take you to him."

He had never gotten along with the child demon, it was hard to forget that he had killed his sensei but he was able to tolerate him when Naruto explained that he couldn't hurt her as he was still connected to the seal. It didn't mean Kyo couldn't hurt the village so Kakashi made sure to keep an eye on him whenever he was in the village. He had told Jiraiya the same.

"No need, Inu." The name had been said with disgust. "I can find our sensei just find. My sense of smell is superior to that of your pathetic mutt." That insult turned it into a glaring match between the two. The remaining four looked on in a mix of amazement and horror that a gennin would dare talk to a Jōnin like that. Naruto though, had had enough. She was sick of the constant tension that existed around the two.

"Stop it! There was no need to insult Pakkun, Kyo. Thanks for telling us where Jiraiya is, we'll meet up at home, yah?"

"Normal time and place." With his signature one eyed smile, Kakashi then disappeared leaving the rest of the gennin shocked at the complete 180 of his personality.

Team 9 eventually followed their sensei's instructions and made their way to the roof while Seka tapped Naruto on the shoulder and signed a question mark.

Figuring what it meant by the look he was giving her, Naruto began to explain as Team 7 also made their way out of the classroom. "Me and Kyo live with Kakashi, he's like my guardian. They don't get along though." She left the longer version for later.

 

Meeting Jiraiya didn't go so well for the three gennin. It turned out that Jiraiya was not at Training Ground 27 but peeping at the onsen that was across from it. Disgusted at her new sensei, Naruto marched up behind him with a kunai. She had no problem with him being a prevent, her guardian read those books, but the fact that he would rather peep on women than pick up his team did not put him in her good graces. She refused to let teachers treat her like a second class nobody.

Kyo watched with amusement. He knew exactly who Jiraiya was. He had been quite close with his previous container; he had also read up on him and his teammates. Jiraiya was no push over, Kyo had learned the toads had been training him in the Sage Arts for some years now. It was rare for a shinobi to learn the Sage Arts nowadays. To his knowledge, the Toad Sannin might be the only one alive capable of it. Naruto had no chance of getting any kind of advantage.

Seka, meanwhile, watched his teammate approach their sensei, conflicted on what to do. On one hand, Jiraiya should be able to sense them as he was one of the strongest Shinobi in the Elemental Nations but on the other, what if he didn't want to teach them because of her stunt? It was too late for him to do anything as Naruto was already behind the large white mane, ready to pounce.

Bringing the kunai down, Naruto was stunned when her hand was abruptly stopped and her face shoved into the ground moments later.

Seka was frozen in bone chilling awe. He had never seen someone react with such speed and agility before! It looked effortless on the attacker's part, which Seka believed 100% to be true. This man was going to be his sensei…his sensei! While he hadn't been rookie of the year, he had still been one of the best in the Academy. So to see the difference in power level between a gennin and Jōnin first hand was mind blowing.

Jiraiya, having sensed the three gennin approach decided not to do anything. He wanted to see what they would do, judge them for himself. To say he was surprised when Naruto actually attacked him, would be an understatement. Then again, this was Kushina's daughter, so it shouldn't have surprised him as much as it did. Her technique was sloppy from what he could see but still good for an 11 year old. Wasting no more time, he quickly disarmed his goddaughter and buried her face into the ground. Wincing, he knew there was going to be retaliation for that if what Sarutobi told him about her was true.

"So, you're the new brats? I've seen better." Jiraiya knew he was being harsh but he wanted to test Kyo to see if he would be a problem. "Anyway, you guys are late."

For the first time, Seka let his frustration show; Jiraiya could barely make out what the kid was signing but held back a chuckle when he got the gist of it. He would be fun to train that was sure.

Feeling danger, the sage raised his armored hand to block the blow aimed at his neck. Looking to see who his attacker was, he was surprised to see Naruto. Glancing down, he felt himself smile: he was sitting on one of the sandbags from the onsen. Before he could comment, Jiraiya had to block another strike, this time from below. Seeing as both his hands were now preoccupied, the Sannin decided enough was enough. It was time for proper introductions.

Flinging the blond to her teammates, he motioned them to follow. Seeing the change in behavior, the student's did as ordered.

Jiraiya led them to Training Ground 27, motioning for them to take a seat on one of the larger stones that littered the ground.

"Now that that's out of the way, how about introductions? We're going to be a team, so it's important for us to know each other inside and out. The unit can only survive with teamwork and teamwork comes from understanding each other. So I'll start off. I'm Jiraiya and you guys are my second gennin team, my last one being almost 20 years ago. My goal is to make sure all three of you survive." Letting everything sink in he addressed Naruto. "Blondie, you next."

"You forgot to mention pervert." Naruto grumbled when she was chosen.

"What was that!? I am not a pervert!" This confused the kids and former demon, they had just seen him peeping! "I'm a super pervert!" Dead silence followed his proclamation, the disbelief hard to overcome.

'I take everything back about this man…how the hell did he train that blasted Yondaime?' Kyo thought while thinking of ways he could kill the man without Naruto finding out.

"That doesn't make it better!" Naruto was flabbergasted that the old man would give her a sensei like this, even if he was considered one of the strongest to come from Konoha.

'I think those books left some things out.' Seka thought. But there was something familiar about the man, he couldn't help but feel like he had met him before. He knew that that wasn't possible though as the man hadn't been in the village for some time.

"Well, are you going to introduce yourself Blondie?" The deep voice broke everyone out of their thoughts, remembering why they were here.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Uhh…What else do you want to know?" Naruto was slightly embarrassed, she had never introduced herself to someone before. When she lived with Shisui and then Kakashi, they learned about her by their interactions so there was no need for her to tell them.

"Let's make it simple: your dreams, skills, and anything else you think is important."

"That's easy! Kakashi has been training me in stealth, I'm really fast, and good with traps. I actually have two dreams: I am going to be the first female Hokage!" This made Jiraiya bite his cheek to stop his laughter. He remembered Minato telling him how Kushina had declared the same dream back on her first day in the Academy. He was curious about her second dream though. "I also want to find Uchiha Itachi and ask him something."

Jiraiya and Seka looked at her like she had just proclaimed her love from Orochimaru. Seka once again signed his confusion and shock, while Jiraiya stared at her in disbelief. "Do you have a suicide wish or something!? Uchiha Itachi murdered his entire clan and you think you can just approach him to ask a question?"

"I am not an idiot. I know who and what he did; I knew him before the massacre. There are things only he knows, questions only he can answer. I know the danger." She gained a faraway look in her eyes at this. She was remembering the night he died. She hadn't realized it then, but Itachi had known too much about Shisui's death when his body had only just been discovered. His words also didn't make sense; he had said something about a mission going wrong but Shisui hadn't been on a mission that night as far as she was aware, he had just successfully returned from one.

There were too many unanswered questions and Itachi was the only one who could answer them.

Deciding to break the tense silence, Jiraiya called for Kyo to go next.

"My name is Kyo and my mission is to protect Naruto and kill a certain masked Uchiha." Kyo didn't elaborate any further, daring Jiraiya to say something. He was well aware that Jiraiya knew who he was and what he was capable of. While he tolerated Naruto, the other humans were not so lucky.

Not rising to the bait, Jiraiya indicated for his final student to introduce himself; Seka had already begun to write everything down before Jiraiya finished talking. Flipping his board over, he let the others read. "My name is Maeko Seka. I have been mute since I was 6. I am a sensor and I have been working on minor doton jutsu's. My dream is to be a great shinobi and show people that my disability is not a disadvantage. "

Nodding his head, Jiraiya was impressed with his two students, it wasn't often fresh out of the Academy Gennin had such clear mindsets on what their strengths were. On the other hand, he had mixed feelings about Kyo and how he should approach him. "Right, so your first training exercise as a team is survival and it starts…now!" The three disappeared in a plume of smoke, Jiraiya following moments later.

Earlier in the morning he had set up a specific area in the surrounding forest for this particular training. It was going to test their team work, skills, and their ability to think on their feet. He had done the same with Minato's team, with slight reprimand from Sarutobi about the dangers of the exercise. The bell test of overrated anyway, at least to Jiraiya.

 

Appearing in what seemed to be the outer forest, if the dense trees were any indication, Team 7 began to survey their surroundings. It was Kyo who first noticed the scroll at their feet. Picking it up, he read out loud.

-Survival Training-

I will pick you up at 04:00 tomorrow morning. This is a stimulation of a real mission into enemy territory. Your only weapons will be what's on your person. Gathering food and water is up to you. Remember, you are a team in enemy territory.

Jiraiya

"It's safe to assume that by enemy territory he means there will be traps set up, so be on guard." Kyo was the first to take charge.

~As a sensor, I can find traps. I can lead you  to them to dismantle. We need to set up camp somewhere safe. ~

"What is the point of this?" Seeing a tick mark appear above her partner's eye, Naruto hastened to finish her thought. "On a mission, don't you move constantly? You go from X to Y, right? Well, we're at X but where's Y?"

That…was actually a good point.

Seka thought for a few seconds before he began to scribble quickly. ~I'm guessing we're outside the village, right? So maybe our objective is to get to the village. ~

The other two nodded in agreement, though Kyo's was more of a dismissal.

"Now that we have the mission, we need a plan of attack." Motioning for Seka to come closer, Kyo began to explain. Being hundreds of years old did have its perks. "First we need to establish what all we have."

The three pulled out their weapon pouches and anything else they had: kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, multiple exploding tags (Naruto gave a sheepish grin at those), smoke bombs, scrolls ink/brush set, and flares.

Seeing that the sun was still pretty high, Kyo guessed it was slightly past noon. This gave them twelve or so hours in which they had to survive out here.

"Let's find some food and water first. It's past lunch, we need our strength if we're going to last the night out here. From what I remember, there are a few streams that run a few miles outside the village walls. There's no telling how far out we actually are so we need to establish a rough position."

Naruto and Seka both agreed with Kyo, letting him take the leadership role as he seemed to know what he was doing, at least that's what Seka was thinking. Naruto was just used to letting Kyo take the lead on certain things.

~East of the village lies denser forests with little to no settlements. The farther north, the more mountainous while the west has many roads for trade. ~ Naruto was amazed that Seka knew so much about the area surrounding the village. ~My father was a merchant, my mother a kunoichi. ~ That was all he wrote.

"Can you sense anyone nearby?" Kyo decided to be less hostile to his new teammate. There seemed to be nothing wrong with the boy and he was proving quite useful.

Focusing, Seka placed his hand on the ground. Unlike many sensor's, Seka used the ground as a conductor for his abilities. Finding no human chakra, he shook his head to his teammates.

Looking towards the sky, Kyo saw that the sun was finally beginning to move. "We will go west, this way. The trees here are older, denser. So the village is somewhere to the west of us. We'll set off and look for water and food on our way."

Agreeing, all three took off towards the west with Naruto making two Shadow Clones that took off to the north and south.

Some distance away, Jiraiya appeared with an impressed look on his face. They were quick to figure out the objective of the mission while using geographical knowledge to deduce where they were at. This was an important skill that many people overlooked. If there was one thing he learned during the wars, it was always know where you are at. Accidently walking into enemy territory was a sure way to die.

Their ability to become a cohesive group also astounded him. Naruto and Kyo, he expected as they have been together for a while. It seemed Seka was easily accepted into their group making things less complicated for him. Grinning, Jiraiya took off after his students.

By nightfall, Team 7 had covered what seemed like miles before they found a stream and set up camp. Naruto set up traps around the small perimeter while Seka collected branches and Kyo got the water and food.

As none of them had eaten since before 9 that morning, it was decided that they would light a small fire to make dinner before smoldering it. One of the first survival skills is knowing when to make a fire, as it could easily give away your location to the enemy.

Small talk followed after dinner. Naruto was the first to point out that Seka didn't know anything about them so that led to them sharing stories, more Naruto and Seka than Kyo but he did join in a few times. Seka was sure Kyo was exaggerating; what gennin could have fought the Gyuki and won! But he didn't seem like someone who made up stories like that. Turning to look at Naruto, Seka noticed she was listening with rapt attention, hanging on to every word that came out of the red-head's mouth.

He bit his right index finger, a nervous habit he picked up as a child. Interacting with his newfound team reminded Seka of his lonely childhood. He had constantly been ignored by the majority of the population because they didn't understand sign language. Many people became frustrated with him when he tried to explain his desires, he was a disabled nuisance who had no business becoming a shinobi; those were the whispers that followed him around.

There were few who knew his form of sign language. A Nara had become his tutor five days a week in ninja sign language when he first came to the village. The Nara, Yuri, had been patient and even taught him the forms practiced in other countries.

He wanted to show his new teammates that he wasn't useless like many pegged him to be and this exercise was his opportunity.

With the fire smothered and the traps all in place, Naruto and Kyo settled down to get some rest. Seka was taking first watch, than Naruto, than Kyo who had the best vision in the dark.

Jiraiya watched them all night, noticing how none of them so much as dozed off during their watch. Satisfied, he went around to check the quality of Naruto's traps. They were pretty impressive. He saw that she was dabbling in seals, not enough to be dangerous but still impressive for someone her age.

Kyo woke his two teammates up around 2 o'clock, if his internal clock was to be trusted. That left them two hours to get to the village. Checking the traps, Naruto salvaged what she could from them and took the rear position. Seka was placed in the middle as his eyes were not as good as her and Kyo's in the darkness.

Kyo was becoming weary, they had yet to run into any real danger or test. While he may not know much of the Sannin, Kyo knew that this was not normal. This was meant to test their teamwork in high stress situations. Was the toad trying to lure him into a false sense of security? Regardless of the man's plan, Kyo planned to be ready. Now the question was, who was really being tested here?

Sprinting through the trees at night was not ideal, Seka thought. If this was a real mission, how would he be able to communicate with his teammate? There was no light for them to see his hands and no time to write anything down. Not wanting to go down that road again, Seka instead focused on his task. Kyo had trusted him with sensing and targeting any foreign chakra signatures resembling traps; there were traps around the area, he could sense the lingering chakra in some of the exploding tags.

Increasing his speed so he could catch up with Kyo, Seka motioned ahead of them with two fingers and an exploding motion. Kyo, catching on, indicated for Naruto to avoid the areas Seka pointed out. Passing by without setting off the exploding tags, Seka let out a brief sigh: he was useful.

The encouragement was short-lived though; as soon as they passed the tree with the exploding tags, they were assaulted by a barrage of kunai. Moving quickly, the three gennin managed to evade most of the weapons, getting only superficial wounds.

"Is anyone hit?" Kyo shouted once the barrage had subsided. He had been separated from the group when they had unintentionally set off a multitude of traps.

"We're fine, just some cuts and-"

The rest of the sentence was cut off by a violent explosion that hurled the gennin through the nearest trees and destroyed the surrounding landscape.

Kyo was the only one left unscathed as he had wrapped himself in a chakra cloak as soon as he had sensed the explosion. Cursing his luck, the demon raced towards where Naruto had been before the explosion, Minato's words replaying over and over in his head, 'You can be drawn back into the seal if Naruto is ever near death.'

The situation had yet to be encountered but Kyo wasn't looking to find out how true all of that was. He never wanted to look upon that cage in all his remaining years!

The explosion had kicked up a minor dust storm that had yet to settle when he found the epicenter of the explosion; this made finding his useless teammates challenging but not impossible for the ancient demon. When he finally located his container, a scowl appeared across his unmarred face. The two were buried under the fallout of the explosion. Going off what he could see, it looked like they had been really close to the detonation site. From his vantage, he could only assume Naruto was unconscious as she wasn't moving for once in her life. He wasn't sure about Seka, there was a 23% chance he hadn't survived (hea onjuries were always tricky business). Which would be unfortunate as Kyo considered him slightly above tolerable as he didn't have to hear his voice. His inward inclination went unanswered as the slight rise and fall of Seka's chest could be seen from where he stood. This brought up another matter.

'I thought this was supposed to be an exercise! That idiotic human could've killed them!'

Cursing Madara and Hashirama for getting him into this situation in the first place, Kyo cloaked himself in his chakra once again, using his tails to lift the heavier debris off his teammates. The mission was at a standstill until the two were awake and fit to move. Pulling Naruto out first, he checked to make sure her chakra was okay before setting her against one of the few trees that remained standing. Going after Seka next made him pause. Looking at the tiny human, he was reminded of his father's youngest son, Asura. His bandana had been blown off in the explosion revealing his spiky, chocolate brown hair. If he just added-

Shaking his head, Kyo growled at himself. This was not his father's son, he did not care for humans any longer. Never again, not after all they have done to his family.

Lifting the child up, Kyo set him on the other side of Naruto, not bothering to be gentle. Looking at how defenseless they were, Kyo entertained the thought of killing both of them right then and there. It would be so easy, a quick kunai to the heart and they would both be out of their misery. How he longed to feel the blood of his enemy's dripping down his hands, to feel their fear as they realized how pointless their struggle was. But he couldn't because of those blasted humans! He was stuck as one of them now, forced to protect his prison! Him, the most powerful of the bijuu, reduced to nothing but a bodyguard. He would never here the end of it if Gyūki and the others saw him now.

A flare of chakra broke him out of his tirade, reminding him of his position. They should be the only people out here so a flare of chakra was something to be keenly suspicious about. Positioning himself in front of his unconscious teammates, Kyo relaxed into his preferred stance. He had his weight shifted to his left leg and his left hand resting in his pants pocket, to an outsider it would seem like he was unconcerned but his eyes told a different story; they were focused straight ahead, concentrating on nothing but the long stretch of darkness, dimly illuminated by the dying flames of the recent explosion.

The chakra was getting stronger so someone was heading their way, fast.

Whoever it was, they were just about to pass into Kyo's vision. He was prepared to incinerate the trespasser if it turned out to be Jiraiya. Ready to launch his attack, the red head counted down

3…2…1…

It was like everything froze for the demon. Never, in all his centuries had he seen anything as disturbing as this! Was it even human? The green, the conforming spandex, the hair! Could it get any worse!?

What had horrified Kyo was the appearance of a green spandex wearing man walking on his hands, Maito Gai.

Noticing the destruction around him, Gai paused in his daily routine, becoming alert to exactly what happened to the area around him. He narrowed his eyes when he spotted the small red head standing in front of, Gai presumed, his teammates.

"My youthful companions, have you been attacked?" He was quick to flip to his feet.

Seeing the man wasn't a danger, he remembered seeing him around Kakashi's apartment, apparently his name was Gai, Kyo removed his hand from his pocket. He still had his weight shifted in case of an attack, something Gai noticed.

"Just our dumbass sensei leaving these fucking trip-explosives everywhere. We're fine." Kyo growled out, not happy about the situation and the object of his frustration not being near.

Gai was hesitant to leave the three gennin alone, he recognized the blond and red hair right away, these were Kakashi's kids and that meant their sensei was Jiraiya. Something must have gone wrong in their training exercise for this level of damage to have occurred.

He was about to offer his help when both shinobi felt the Sannin's presence appear in the clearing.

Kyo was quick to throw his hidden kunai, backing it up with his Flaming Fist. Jiraiya expected something like this when he entered the clearing and blocked it easily. Holding his student's hand in a bruising grip, Jiraiya indicated for Gai to leave which he reluctantly did.

Directing his attention back to the red head, the aged Sannin was impressed with what he had seen. Kyo had exceeded his expectations. While the explosion had not been part of the plan, the fact that Kyo had rescued and defended his teammates when they were defenseless instead of killing them said wonders about his progression.

"If you're done attacking me, I would like to check on the rest of my team."

"Are you trying to blame me?! You're the fricken idiot who set up a barrage of kunai across from exploding seals! Who does that?"

For the most part, Jiraiya ignored the furious gennin but he did have a point. He had overlooked the fact that these were gennin. There was no way Seka or Naruto could've sensed that attack. He had overestimated their abilities because of Kyo. He wouldn't do that again. The two unconscious children looked okay for the most part, Naruto was mostly healed while Seka had a suspicious looking head wound and blood coming from his ear. A ruptured eardrum and maybe a mild concussion. It would be best to take them to the hospital.

He picked up Seka and ordered Kyo to carry Naruto, who was the smaller of the two. They were a five minute run from the village. The team hadn't realized how close they had been, within a mile of the village.

Kyo, knowing the reaction Naruto would get at the hospital, took her to their apartment instead. He knew she wasn't seriously injured; he would feel it otherwise. He would leave Seka in their sensei's hands for now.

"And that ape is supposed to be one of the greatest Konoha shinobi?" He scoffed in disbelief as he laid Naruto down on her bed. He gently moved the stray hairs off her face. She'd need a bath when she woke up but beyond that she should be good.

Kakashi was lucky he wasn't home or he would be getting an earful, demanding answers on why such an irresponsible person was put in charge of Naruto. As it is, the only person in the apartment was Naruto. He did gain some pleasure from disobeying Jiraiya though; the man was probably only now figuring out Kyo hadn't followed him to the hospital.

It was 04:30 and he was tired.

 

"I'm looking for Uzumaki Naruto. She should've arrived right after me."

The nurse manning the front desk gave Jiraiya a tight, apologetic smile. "I'm sorry sir, no one came in after you."

He knew he should've kept an eye on that brat. It seemed there was much he still had to learn about the trapped demon. The first, his intentions towards his goddaughter.

"Thank you." It proved how distracted the kid had made him that he didn't once check out the hot nurse in her uniform.

'Is it just him or am I that rusty? Minato was never this difficult.' Jiraiya struggled through his thoughts, trying to remember his first days with his second team. 'Then again, Yahiko was rather difficult.' His thoughts turned towards his first team from Ame.

It was easy to locate the remaining two-thirds of his team. The only logically place Kyo would take Naruto was their home.

Looking into the bedroom window, he was met with the sight of Naruto tucked in with Kyo at the bottom of the bed. Seriously, their dynamic confused him. He had concluded that Kyo was the leader of their weird duo and Naruto followed his lead but looking at the two now and remembering Kyo's introduction, he'd say Naruto held the most control. They had to have a give-and-take relationship. His talk with Kakashi would need to happen sooner rather than later.

"Do you frequently linger outside young girl's bedroom windows?" The voice startled him. He had thought Kyo was asleep. He was good. Red eyes met his black ones.

"Only when trapped demons take away my goddaughter."

Red eyes blazed in fury. "I may not be able to kill her but there's no restrictions on everyone else."

"What're you playing at? Why do you care for her?"

That was something Kyo was still trying to figure out for himself. She did things to people. You only had to know her for a few minutes before she had you in her web.

"You know the seal used on us. I may be free but she's still my container. She dies, I die. I'm looking out for my interests."

Jiraiya was curious about these threats and interests. "And what threats are you aware of?"

"Uchiha's," the red-head spat in disgust, "can never be trusted. Out there roams one with the power to destroy everything. He's gotten away once, it won't happen again."

"The masked Uchiha?" Kyo had said as much during his introduction. "Who is it?"

Kyo looked annoyed at the questions. This man was supposed to run the intelligence networks? What other Uchiha would the Kyuubi want to kill?

"Her safety is my number one priority, then revenge." That was all he had to say on the matter. The rest could be figured out if the man thought hard enough.

Seeing the conversation close, Jiraiya tried one final approach. "Sarutobi said the seal changed from the original design. I want to look at it to make sure it's not going to kill her." It wasn't that subtle but Jiraiya wanted it known that he didn't trust the demon not to betray them.

"Go ahead. It does exactly what I told that old ape it does. And before you try reversing it, you can't without sealing away her chakra."

The room was tense as he made his way inside. Kyo lifted up Naruto's shirt and called forth his chakra. Both watched as the beautiful seal appeared on her abdomen. The design was off, he could tell that right away. This alteration was meant to be unstable, he'd guess if the seal ever broke, it would look something like this. But it was different, like someone had taken care to put in safety measures to prevent it from breaking. He couldn't see Kyo doing that so who did?

"Who altered the seal? There's binds around the side, seals preventing complete release but allowing a large portion to exist outside the cage. This was done with care, something only a seal master could accomplish." He could see that Kyo knew the answer but wasn't forthcoming with the information. Just another thing to add to his growing list. "It doesn't appear to harm her but if I'm reading these seals on the outside right, this corporeal body will disappear the moment Naruto's chakra is dangerously low to the point she's dying. The seal will shift all available chakra to save her."

"It's only a temporary situation. Once she has enough chakra, she can create this body again."

It was an interesting situation, something Jiraiya could honestly say he had never come across.

"All of this, befriending her, becoming essential to her, it's so she'll free you if that ever happens?"

"Does it bother you that you might be wrong about me? That a demon might be good? I don't have to have an ulterior motive for doing all this." At this Kyo leaned forward, encasing the older man hand that was over Naruto in a binding grip. "If I wanted to, I could've turned her against everyone the second she lost her precious Uchiha. I could've killed everyone here and taken her away."

'Is that a threat?' Jiraiya wasn't sure what to think of Kyo anymore. There were too many contradictions. But he did know one thing: he wasn't lying with his last statement. From what he'd heard, _his_ death had greatly impacted Naruto.

"Then let's call a truce. We both want her safe; it'll be easier if we're working together." The resulting grin made Jiraiya feel like he was played somehow.

"If you're as good as your reputation says you are, you won't be a bad ally."

Over the unconscious Uzumaki, a deal was struck between two legends that would end up defining the upcoming years.

 

With their first mission together not going quite as planned and needing answers to his questions, Jiraiya decided to keep the kids in the village for the time being. Ideally, he wanted to be out of the village, working with his spy network but that would have to wait.

His first stop after talking with Kyo was the Hokage's office. Sarutobi had omitted much information regarding his new student.

"Smoking this early Old Man? Maybe we should bring out the hard stuff for this conversation?"

The Third Hokage sighed as he turned to his student. The day hadn't even started yet and he could already feel the headache coming on. Those two would be the death of him it seemed.

"Does this have anything to do with the explosion heard outside the village around 03:45?" He could always tell when something involved his trouble making student.

Jiraiya rubbed his head sheepishly; so that explosion hadn't been a good idea on multiple levels. "Yeah, you could say that." Jumping in from the window, he took a seat across the Hokage's desk. "What were your thoughts when you saw Naruto's seal? What did you feel when it changed?"

Her seal? That wasn't what he thought they would be talking about. It had been a couple years since the change and there had yet to be an incident. "From what I could gather, the seal does exactly as Kyo says. I cannot find anything that would put her life in danger."

"And what did you feel when it changed?" This was the important part. He had to know if there had been any transformation or tampering beforehand. The seal shouldn't have been able to change by itself and Naruto didn't have the tools to do so. If someone tampered with it or if it was a failsafe built in by Minato in case the seal failed, he had to know.

"No one knows how it happened. Kakashi was out on a mission at the time and Naruto just appeared one day with Kyo. We were never able to get the story out of her." His eyes lost focus as he remembered that day. It wasn't a day he could forget, discovering the Kyuubi once again walked among them. "I sent out trackers and the only thing found was a destroyed field two miles out. It was saturated with demon chakra but other than the obvious destruction, any evidence that had been there was destroyed."

"What was she doing that far from the village by herself?" That was pretty far for someone of her age to be, especially alone.

Sarutobi gave him a look, raising his eyebrow. "Training." That was all he needed to say to explain the situation.

Jiraiya sat back as he took in the new information. The chakra had been released but had the seal been close to breaking? Demon chakra could do much destruction in small amounts so without seeing the area itself, it was hard to judge just how much had been released.

"And there was no sign of an enemy ninja? You never did find out who was behind the assassination attempt before?"

"No, we didn't. The only inconsistency we've been able to uncover is the disappearance of a chunnin around the same time. He has yet to be found."

This peaked Jiraiya's interest. He had learned that there were no such things as inconsistencies when Jinchuuriki were involved. "I'll need this chuunin's records."

Indicating that he would be given it later, Sarutobi moved on to his original question. "Now, can I know why I received no less than ten complaints about an explosion near the East Gate?"

"It was a mishap in the team's training exercise. I miscalculated and placed explosive tags next to a kunai barrage. The kunai set off the explosion. The brats are alright, Maeko had a ruptured eardrum and a mild concussion. The docs are taking care of him now. Naruto seemed okay. Kyo took her home to rest."

"Honestly Jiraiya, when will you learn?" A sigh of defeat escaped the old man.

Disappointment wasn't anything new for the white haired man. It had been a common occurrence throughout his ninja career, especially when he was compared to Orochimaru. He had learned long ago to not let it affect him.

"Kyo…what do you make of him? I thought I had his personality figured out from what you told me of him but something came up today that makes me question that."

Jiraiya hated not having all the information. His was a spy, the top spy, his life revolved around information. To not have such vital information regarding his goddaughter was really rattling his nerves.

"I've only interacted with him on occasion. My relationship with Naruto has deteriorated these last few years. She never forgave me for removing her from the compound. Discovering the truth about the Kyuubi didn't help matters. Kakashi knows more about the two than anyone."

It was a sensitive topic, one he hadn't shared completely with his former student. He didn't think he could bare for his student to discover his moment of weakness, when he damned the last remnant of Minato and Kushina. There was much he did wrong by her and he has struggled to make it up to her. He knew that she had every right to hate him but he couldn't accept it. He couldn't accept that he had failed her. Breaking the age limit rule for graduation and giving her Jiraiya as her sensei, he hoped that maybe she would see he only ever did what he thought was best for her.

"He never told her?"

"No, he wanted her to have a normal childhood."

Well, he had liked the kid when he met him. "From the outside it looks like Kyo is in control of the relationship but I witnessed him defer to her. He hides it under insults and anger but I think he has grown to care for her in ways he refuses to admit."

"There have been instances where he partakes in her pranks. I imagine he indulged her wishes as a way to get back at the village in some way. The most recent being the defacing of the Hokage Monument." Sarutobi gestured out his window towards the stone carvings. Still visible on his bust were the paint and insults. It seemed they had especially focused on him and Hashirama, as those two were the only ones with paint still present.

"But his actions don't add up. The only consistency I've observed is his willingness to protect Naruto and his desire to kill an Uchiha."

"An Uchiha? Itachi?" That would make sense, seeing as Itachi poses the biggest threat with his Sharingan.

"From his speech, no. There must be some other Uchiha out there more powerful than that."

That didn't make sense. Itachi had killed all the Uchiha's. He and Sasuke were the only ones remaining. If there was another one out there, more powerful than Itachi, they would've heard of him by now. Someone with that much power didn't stay hidden for long.

"He knows things, things we don't."

Thinking hard on this new information, Sarutobi concluded they didn't have enough information to act. For now they would watch. "Don't do anything for now. Talk to Kakashi and see what he has to say. Keep them in the village for a little bit longer."

···

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed her name back to Naruto because as I was writing future scenes, I realized how important the name Naruto ended up being in the story. I had originally written this story back before anything had been revealed, right when Jiraiya went to fight Pein. It just feels right for her name to be Naruto.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team 7 goes on their first real mission! Choices are made and Naruto and Kyo come to an understanding. Jiraiya gets serious about his role as sensei and Seka is wondering what the hell is going on!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was originally supposed to be longer but the second part is currently stalling me and I figured this was a good spot to stop. Didn't realize how hard it would be to have Jiraiya and Zabuza face off as every scenario I try to come up with is completely one sided :( 
> 
> This is also being cross-posted on fanfiction.net under the same name.

Being in a team wasn't really what Naruto thought it would be. She thought her life would change somehow; now that she was a shinobi, she would be going on missions all the time, getting into fights, learning new jutsu. Instead, her life was utterly and disappointingly, exactly the same as before. She still got up by 7 to train and came home after sunset. The only real difference was the addition of Seka and Jiraiya into her little routine. If she was honest, that had to be the hardest change. For so long it had just been the three of them: her, Kyo, and Kakashi. Letting new people in was never really her strong suit, especially Konoha citizens.

It was easy to connect with Seka though. He was sweet and he spent time before and after training teaching her sign language so they could communicate with each other. She knew what it felt like to not be heard and ignored. Not being from Konoha and his parents being gone, Seka knew what it was like to be excluded by the village which benefited her because he had not been part of the population of child instructed to stay away from her. He had no such reservations or preconceived notions about her.

Actually, he quite liked her, despite what people tried to tell him about her. In the days following their team formation, he had multiple people come up to him to offer their condolences and their opinion of Naruto. He ignore those people. The only fault he could find in her was her disregard for authority.

These teaching sessions became a team bonding event when Kyo, who knew the basics of sign language and could interrupt for her if she didn't understand something, grudgingly joined their sessions. The kid had proved himself on their first 'mission'. He would only give him one chance; if he messed it up, he was gone. And he'd kill him himself if he tried anything against them.

After Seka had been discharged that evening of the explosion for his concussion, Jiraiya had informed them that for the time being, they were confined to the village. He refused to give them a reason why and only Seka didn't find this suspicious. Naruto knew right away that the Hokage had something to do with it. If he was trying to protect her from the 'dangerous' world, he was about five years too late. She had made clear her opinion of him, something she thought he understood when she forced his hand for graduation.

"I'm sure that's 'completely normal'." Her sarcastic remark was met with a raised eyebrow. Jiraiya wasn't too happy about his student's attitude regarding his sensei. Whatever happened between the two in the past, that man was the Hokage and deserved her respect.

"The Hokage has his reasons and I suggested some time in the village until Team 7 can function as a unit more efficiently." He wasn't scolding her but the reprimand was still heard. Naruto glared at the ground, she refused to let him make her feel like a child.

"We blew through your first mission with ease. It was your idiotic design that put Maeko in the hospital and Naruto unconscious." Kyo's smug retort was not appreciated. "I'd say we operated above and beyond current expectations."

He had to set the tone here in the beginning. He knew who and what Kyo was but for the sake of the team, he had to understand that Jiraiya was in charge. There were levels of command that needed followed and already he could see future problems in two of his students. Kyo's disregard of any authority figure and Naruto's blatant disrespect of Sarutobi were just the beginning of the disregard they had for authority. He had read their files and he knew Kyo was just encouraging this behavior in his young goddaughter. The only person she respected was Kakashi and the former Uchiha head family. From the reports, she had looked up to Fugaku and Mikoto and that had been the start of her current divide between her and Sarutobi.

From what he read, the Hokage could've handled that situation better than he did. Guilt began to creep up with these thoughts. He should've been there.

"I guess I overestimated your skills if you couldn't sense that trap. A perfect example of the training everyone needs." Kyo's smug grin disappeared. Good. He addressed the entire team next. "I'll be the first to admit, I never intended to take on a team again. I have taken you three on because I see your potential to be the greatest shinobi of this generation. The powers the three of you hold can impact the Great Nations. Your teachers at the Academy may not elect to tell you this but you are adults now."

He looked each of his students in the eye, making sure they understood the seriousness of his next statement. "While the nations may officially be at peace, conflict is always brewing. Antagonists waiting for the perfect opportunity to incite conflict. Ame is currently experiencing a civil war that has lasted the better part of this past decade. Kumo and Konoha have been in tense relations since the Hyuuga episode nine years ago, Suna is in an economic recession, and Kiri has just entered a transition of power after the assassination of the Yondaime Mizukage weeks ago."

Seeing the wide eyes on two of his student's faces, Jiraiya knew he had made his point. "The world is not as peaceful as you have been led to believe. I have been entrusted by the Hokage to gather intelligence on international threats along with potential threats to Konoha. Our hope is that Team 7 will eventually become a spy unit. With each of your abilities, you will become our biggest asset if we do enter war. The Hokage believes this and I believe this."

Jiraiya could see the conflict flickering across his female student's face. She had experienced her fair share of secrets, this he knew. Some he had a part in keeping. There had been a fight between Kakashi and him on the role she would play. Kakashi had wanted her and Kyo to be placed on his team with Sasuke. They would be a frontlines assault team. The power between the three of them would make any enemy fear them once they became chuunin. Jiraiya argued against this. With no direct conflict happening right now, it didn't make sense to make them a war unit. Their skills would be better utilized undercover, acquiring information for Konoha.

Sarutobi conceded that his former student had a point and it wasn't wise to put the last Uchiha and Uzumaki in a group together. Kakashi hadn't been happy but understood the logic.

"I will train you in the arts of infiltration, sabotage, and diplomacy. My network cannot function for long without me so once I okay it, we will be outside the village a majority of the time." He had their undivided attention now. "For this to happen, I will need your undivided support and respect. I will not fail you if you give me this."

The aged sannin could see the tiniest shift in expression in the red head's face. His little speech had gained him some respect from the demon. Maybe this wouldn't end in a complete disaster.

···

With the gennin's complete cooperation, he was able to see a vast improvement in their skills and ability to work together as a team. With their third D-ranked mission completed flawlessly, he decided it was time to leave the village.

Gathering them together at their training ground, Jiraiya broke the good news, something he knew Naruto had been waiting for these past two weeks.

"As of now, we'll be operating outside of the village. Any mission the Hokage needs us to compete will be sent via summoning. Go home and pack and say your goodbyes. We shouldn't be back in the village for at least the next month."

Seeing as all three were orphans and really had no one to say goodbye to, they left to pack right away. Naruto's thoughts were flickering about at a million miles an hour. Finally, finally she was getting out of the village! She was going to see the world where no one knew who or what she was. She was going out into the world where Itachi was.

Kakashi was at the apartment waiting for them. Of course, he would know they were leaving the village.

"Big day?" For once his book was away. This was serious and he wanted to make sure Naruto knew that.

Kyo moved pass them, not wanting to take part in the conversation. A smile broke out across Naruto's face at the mention though. For years, all she talked about was getting out of the village and seeing the world. Now she was getting that chance.

"Pervy-Sage said we'd be gone at least a month. How many places do you think we'll visit? Do you think will go to another shinobi village?"

Her guardian couldn't suppress his laughter at her excitement. It was rare to see this side of her nowadays.

"Jiraiya has traveled the nations multiple times and I'm sure you won't be disappointed. Just be careful, okay? There are people out there who will want to hurt you." Seeing her about to interrupt, he continued, "No, it won't be like here. These people will make assumptions based on your appearance, they'll want things. I know you know this and I know you're not weak but you have to be careful, okay? I don't know what'd I do if something happened to you." His hand found its way into her hair as he gave her his signature eye smile.

They weren't quite tears but Naruto shoved those emotions down, determined not to cry. She was a kunoichi!

…Screw it! She threw her arms around Kakashi, squeezing the life out of him. "I will, I promise. And when I come back, I'll be stronger than ever! I swear!"

And Kakashi knew she would. Just like he knew she didn't need him to protect her anymore. "Then take this." He handed her a sealed scroll. Her curious eyes trailed the scroll as she took possession of it. "It was your father's. He gave it to me shortly before his death. He wrote down all his sealing techniques. He had hopes that I would take up sealing as a way to connect to him and Kushina more. After everything that had happened in the war, he worried about me. I never really got into it as much as he'd hoped but I know your fascination and skill in it."

Her gaze changed to reverence as she took in what that meant. Now she had something of her fathers, something physical, proof of his actual existence. Something he had touched.

Still in a daze, Naruto made it to her shared room to find Kyo already packing both their bags. Seeing her face and having heard their conversation, he scoffed in disgust. Pathetic human emotions of sentimentality.

His scoff broke her out of her delight. He always did that. When anything good happened to her, he was always the first to disregard it as irrelevant, pathetic. Well, she had enough of it!

"Why do you do that?! Every good thing that ever happens, you always push it away! Don't you want to be happy?" She was generally curious as well. While they had been together as a team for the past two years, she had never really seen him express any interest in developing more bonds.

"Happiness is irrelevant and nonexistent. You put emotions and faith into people and objects that have the power to destroy you. This is a weakness cursed onto your kind." He didn't even bother to address her face to face. His disregard for the subject matter fairly obvious.

Naruto was ready to argue. "Loving people isn't a weakness, neither is being happy."

"Did you feel stronger when you were with that Uchiha? You loved him didn't you? And you were a pathetic mess when he died. Weakness." He spat out, finally turning to face her. "Loving people gives them the power to destroy you." Her blue eyes widened in hurt.

To use that against her…he knew how deep that wound went, even after all these years. "I told you before that his love saved me. I know what it feels like to feel nothing but hatred and loneliness...I-I never want to feel that ever again." Her voice cracked before it suddenly dawned on her. "If this is what you're feeling all the time," she breathed "...I'm going to do something about this hatred inside of you!" She could understand now why he acted the way he did! His hatred was stronger than his will to love and let people in.

A snarl ripped itself from his throat as he roared at her.

"Don't patronize me, you pathetic human! You look down on me as if I am the only one filled with hatred. Look at yourself, you're not so different than me. I've seen your hatred no matter how hard you try to hide it."

She stood her ground, refusing to let him intimidate her.

"Why do you keep pushing me away?!" Her eyes were searching his, looking for an answer. "I just want to be someone to you…no one should be alone and I'm going to do everything in my power to free you, I promise. And I never go back on my word!"

The half packed bags lay forgotten on the unmade bed, supplies falling out where they had been haphazardly shoved in during the argument.

"Humans all say and want the same thing! They want us to fade away into the background until they need our power! We are nothing but _tools_. _I_ am nothing but hatred and power to be used at the whims of my containers." Kyo arm swung around until he had his finger jabbing at his chest at the end of his speech.

Was that really what he thought of her, as a container? That she would abuse his power like that…had others done that?

"No you're not! You're not the demon fox anymore. You're more than that. You're my friend, my comrade: You're Kyo." Naruto stated with such conviction that Kyo could do nothing but stare at her in shock, his eyes looking at her like he's never seen her before.

Kyo looked at the girl who made him question everything he ever believed in. He had changed since he was released, he acknowledged that, but if he took this last step, there was no going back. He had pushed everyone away, threatening them and treating them like nothing but a waste a space because he knew what humans were capable of. He witnessed it with his own eyes as the shinobi of this world used and tossed him aside.

But Naruto was different, he knew that from the first moment he met her. It was the reason his emotions were so conflicted about her. She was different than Kushina and Mito had been, she didn't use his powers like Madara and Hashirama had done. To her, he was no one other than Kyo. He hadn't been seen as anything but Kyuubi for so long it was difficult to remember what it felt like.

Maybe it was time to put away his hatred, maybe Hagoromo was right:

_"There will come a time when you will be united again. Each of you with a unique name… and a different form than before. And unlike when you were inside me, you will be guided down the right path. I hope you learn what true strength is…Before that time."_

Steeling his eyes, Kyo regarded his partner for a minute. To her credit, Naruto never backed down. He finally held out two fingers. It wasn't much but to Naruto, it meant the world. It was Kyo's form of acceptance. He was putting his trust into her. Naruto was unable to stop the smile that broke across her face. Kyo let his actions speak as his pride didn't allow him to admit he was wrong.

"Let's go! We have to go ask Pervy Sage if he knows anything about the seal!" Naruto fully grabbed his hand, dragging him behind her as they went to search for their sensei. Their backpacks forgotten for the moment.

Looking at her radiant smile along with the feel of her smaller hand in his, Kyo felt something warm swell in his chest…was this love? He hadn't felt love in so long, he no longer knew what it was. The warmth continued to spread, until it encompassed his entire body. Yes, this was love.

And Kyo was finally content.

Kakashi was still in the main room, having let them deal with their argument. He hadn't sensed anything harmful from Kyo so he elected not to intervene. While it wasn't common, the two were known to fight each other.

He could immediately tell that something had changed when they entered the room. Kyo was smiling (more like a hint of a small smile) and it reached his eyes, creating a softness that had been absent before. He still look unapproachable but there was just a different quality Kakashi could see. He was about ready to take Naruto and run to Jiraiya when Kyo addressed him next.

"Kakashi." There was a brief nod of acknowledgment in his direction. In the two years they had known each other, he had never called him by his first name. It was always Inu, ape, cyclops, or some other derogatory name.

"Naruto, did something happen to Kyo?" Kakashi wanted to make sure this wasn't some act to make him let his guard down. He still wasn't sure about the demon's intentions with regards to the seal. He didn't think he ever would be okay with with him so long as he held that power over his ward. He knew that if it came to his freedom and Naruto, the fox would choose his freedom.

"I just told Kyo what I should've said a long time ago." She replied happily.

Now he was curious as all he had heard was yelling from their room. "Oh, and what was that?"

"That he was my friend and comrade, not just the Kyuubi and that I was going to do everything in my power to free him!"

Kakashi was struck speechless. Only Naruto could befriend a demon…but maybe that was it. He was always going on about how ninja's need to look underneath the underneath, so maybe what Kyo needed was acknowledgement to replace the hatred he felt towards humans. Acknowledgement that he was somebody just like Naruto had needed all those years ago. He would speak to her about this freeing him thing later, when the said subject was not present.

Turning his signature eye smile to his little charge, Kakashi knew he had to give this a shot. "Will Kyo be joining our little family then, ne?" It was said teasingly and he hadn't expected him to really answer him.

Naruto hesitated at that, would Kyo want to be part of their family? Said problem was solved for her.

"If you're begging, I guess I have no choice but to agree." Kyo had stepped from the doorway with his familiar smirk on his face. "Really Cyclops, if you wanted me to be a part of your family, all you had to do was ask."

"That's great! One can never have too many friends." Kakashi knew Kyo was testing him. But if he could change, then the least he could do was give him a chance.

"Hmph, don't expect me to call you brother or anything. I'm old enough to be your many times great-grand father." Though it was said in his usual biting voice, something was different now. There was an undertone of gratitude and relief.

Maybe this could work out.

···

They didn't get a chance to go find their sensei, Kakashi having offered to take them out to celebrate their first real mission. The picked up Seka on the way. It was time they properly met anyway.

Naruto made the meal enjoyable even if it earned them nasty looks at the commotion she was causing. She was an animated eater and conversationalist, something that Kakashi enjoyed, annoyed Kyo when food found its way onto his clothes, and scared Seka. They eventually got around to talking about Team 9, Kakashi's team. Naruto inquired how Sasuke was fairing. She always needed to make sure she was doing better than him. So was the nature of their relationship Kakashi concluded.

Kakashi refused to part with any information on his team. He had built up some trust in the last Uchiha and he wasn't about to lose it because his ward wanted to make sure she was doing better than him. He was beginning to see the Hokage's reasoning for separating the two. If they had been on the same team, he wasn't sure how long they could've lasted, honestly.

"Come on Kashi! I have to know!" She was whining now and getting desperate. He had graduated top of the class so she knew he had to be strong. Other than that, she was blind as all she ever heard about him was from his fan-girls about how 'amazing he was', 'his hair is just so beautiful', and how 'Sasuke was going to marry them for sure!'

Kakashi gave her a look. "I won't give you information on my students Naruto."

~What?~ Seka signed. He was confused about the relationship between her and Sasuke. From what he remembered of the Rookie of the Year, he was very reserved and didn't talk much, especially to girls. He still hadn't gotten the story from the team assignment day when Naruto and Sasuke had kissed. Looking at Kakashi, he wasn't sure he had heard this information yet, about the kiss that is.

"Me and Sasuke knew each other when we were…little?" She said while signing. She wasn't quite sure she signed the last part right. Seka knew what she was trying to say and showed her the correct sign for younger.

"He is my rival." Seka again showed her the right signs.

Kakashi watched on in interest as Seka set about teaching Naruto more signs to incorporate into their conversation. He hadn't seen her this invested in knowing someone since…ever. By the time she had come to live with him, she had given up on making friends with the other kids her age due to their parents and the differences in life experience. He figured this was the reason Sasuke and her held on to each other after all this time. No one could understand what they had went through.

He elected not to tell her that Sasuke had inquired about her as well, once he recognized him as her guardian. He had told him exactly what he told her moments before. Honestly, there was no problem with them talking to each other. They were both just too damn proud.

Kakashi jumped into the conversation when he saw Naruto exaggerating parts of her past with Sasuke. Really, they weren't little kids anymore. How Fugaku put up with the two and remained level headed, he'll never know.

He was glad to see that Naruto was opening up to other people though. He knew getting out of the village was for the best, and with her personality she was sure to make many more friends on her travels. This was the last night he would have with them for the next few weeks, he was going to make it memorable.

···

Jiraiya briefed the team the next morning. They were passing close to the Land of Waves. It wasn't ideal as he knew of the unrest with Gato and everything. He would've taken them somewhere else first but he had information that Zabuza had been seen around there recently and he was someone to worry about, especially if he was selling himself out to the highest bidder. There was reason to fear the man; he wasn't called Demon of the Mist without reason. He was also the main instigator in the assassination of the Yondaime Mizukage. His attempt had sowed the seeds to the eventual usurp. No one was sure who had killed Yagura but the rebel fraction didn't let that bother them as they set about gaining complete control of the village.

"The purpose of our first mission outside the mission is for you three to learn how to acquire information nondescriptively. You need to be able to walk into a village and be forgotten when you walk out. Become everyone's friends while still anonymous. Anonymity will be your safety net out here. Blending in, vanishing the moment things become unexpected."

Jiraiya continued on. While he himself didn't conform to these expectations, his legacy far reaching, the kids were just starting out. Grunt work would teach them not only the dangers of this line of work but expose them, quickly, to the outside would.

"Is that what you do?" Kyo questioned. Curiosity not quite lacing his words. "Leave when the situation gets tough?"

Jiraiya wasn't sure if there was a double meaning to those words but it didn't sting as much as he was sure his student was hoping. He had made peace with his decisions long ago.

"Confrontation is not always the answer. Some situations are delicate, a confrontation would not be beneficial. Each situation needs individual analysis. Some fights just aren't meant to be fought."

Naruto had her brow furrowed, how could retreating be a solution? If there was an enemy, he had to be taken out! If they weren't, they would come back and hurt you.

Espionage was a new field for Naruto and Seka, Kyo somewhat. Growing up, she couldn't really 'disappear' so she embraced it and didn't hide her activities. The entire village knew who she was and what she did. Secrecy was pointless to her.

"Henge and clones will be your ally here in addition to each of you." The surroundings were quiet, far enough from the more frequented routes to be the only people for miles. "Your identity is your greatest asset. Protect it."

His eyes focused on Naruto with his final warning. They did not need her identity getting out. There would be a bounty on her head faster than Jiraiya could get kicked out of an onsen.

Seeing understanding pass between the three, he set about explaining the mission.

With Wave being a few hours away, it was time for them to split up. Seka and Naruto would enter the town as orphans looking for food while Kyo would inquire in the north about recent activities as Jiraiya concentrated his efforts to the south. The goal was to pick up any activity someone may have heard on Gato having hired Zabuza. He thugs were known to litter the town, there was a chance they had let something spill.

Kids were notorious for picking up information they shouldn't know so hopefully Seka and Naruto could get something from them. Jiraiya was looking for any traces of Zabuza while Kyo was looking for Gato's compound.

They had a 12 hour time frame before they were to meet up again.

Unfortunately, Naruto had blown her cover in front of the Demon Brothers, who attacked both her and Seka. They didn't really pose a problem for the blonde and her companion but she did draw attention to herself, something Jiraiya had specifically warned her against.

"What do you mean, you blew your cover?!"

"It's not like I meant to! They were beating up a kid!" Naruto defended her actions. "I wasn't going to do nothing!" She knew she had compromised the mission but how was she supposed to stand by when someone needed help?

Jiraiya could understand where she was coming from but she had to understand that she couldn't always act. Sometimes she had to let events play out and keep her nose down.

"That's what it means to be a shinobi: knowing when to act." If that's what it meant to be shinobi, Naruto wasn't sure she wanted to be one.

It was good for her to learn this early on in her career. It was something every shinobi had to learn: when to choose between the mission and saving someone.

"All they know now is that a group of shinobi is in the village. Gato will send out more men." It wasn't all bad. Now everything will speed up and he can hopefully get some answers about Zabuza.

They followed Jiraiya who had found sleeping quarters for the night.

"So, you defeated the Demon Brothers. That's pretty impressive for gennin." A rough voice breathed into her ear. Whipping around, Naruto didn't see anyone. The others, having heard the voice, fanned out. "But then again, you're not the average gennin are you?"

The voice was in front of them now. Her eyes took in every detail she could of the man who seemed to know her. Everyone was tense, they could feel his deadly aura as he calmly stood, blocking their path.

It took a moment, but Jiraiya was able to place those eyes and that face. It had been years since he had laid eyes on this man, years he spent thinking him dead.

"It can't be," he breathed in disbelief, "I saw you die!" This was not how he wanted his team's first mission to go. "Kyo, take your teammate and run. This isn't a man they can face."

A laugh exploded from the man, his shoulders shaking with unknown mirth.

"Come now Jiraiya, it's been 30 years. I should feel honored to have left such a strong impression." Naruto swallowed hard. She could see the bloodlust in his eyes and they were directed at her. "Sadly, I didn't come for you."

Her instincts were yelling at her to run but her body refused to move. She was paralyzed. It was pointless because the second he finished talking he had her pinned to the ground with a kunai to her neck, 15 yards away from the group.

"Namikaze Naruto, age: 10, rank: Gennin, daughter of the Minato and Kushina. That's you, is it not." The man taunted before leaning closer so only she could hear his next words. "Container of the Kyuubi otherwise known as Kyo, 15 murdered in cold-blood by your hand, previous ward of Uchiha Shisui and current ward of Hatake Kakashi. Anything else I'm missing?"

Bringing his head up, he addressed everyone else. "You're just children pretending to be shinobi. If I wanted, you could be dead before you realize it. But then again some of you are still needed." At this he looked to Kyo. His meaning clearly understood by Kyo and Jiraiya. They hadn't expected him to make his move so fast and now he had Naruto.

Lowering his head again, he whispered into her ear, "Show me his power. Show it too me or I'll kill each and every one of your teammates, starting with the cute mute. Do you think I can make him scream?"

Her anger and fear began to rise to the surface. She was scared. She could see it in his eyes, he wasn't kidding. The stench of blood was strong, almost permeating off of him.

His other hand began to creep lower, pressing into her stomach where she knew her seal was, where he knew her seal was.

"And what would happen to Kyuubi if I were to. Disrupt. This. Seal?" His hand pressed hard, chakra flowing from it. Naruto's pain filled scream prompted the others into action.

Kyo let loose a flame barrage that was blocked by the man who summoned up a water barrier with a single hand! The two were shrouded in mist from the resulting collision.

Red chakra flared up from their position. It was amazing, to feel this power! The unknown man laughed as the gennin behind him punch him off her. A hint of accomplishment could be seen gleaming from his eyes. The smirk never leaving his face as he watch the red chakra surround the girl.

Jiraiya appeared with a Rasengan, hitting the man directly. Knowing the man could've survived the hit, Jiraiya followed his path, pulling the man up by his shirt. A more powerful Rasengan formed in his palm when he noticed the man still breathing.

Laughing made him pause. "I come with a message. Long ago, we were hidden from the world, hunted down because of our power until we became nothing but legends. We were called to help, the collection begins. She will rise and all will end. You can't protect her from her fate." Malicious glee coated his voice as Jiraiya stared down at him in horror. His Rasengan slammed into his chest going through flesh, muscle, and cartilage while he felt his hand actually sink into his foes chest.

Jiraiya grimaced in disgust. He went overboard with the Rasengan, but his words put a fear into him, a fear for his student. Not wanting them to see the body, he pulled out his seal scroll and sealed it. He would give it to the medical unit when he returned to Konoha.

His faith in Kyo wasn't unfounded, as Naruto was no longer releasing his chakra. She did look a little confused though. Of course their first mission outside the village would start like this!

They'd finish out this mission and return to the village.

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of the attack and meeting Zabuza

As if the mission could so any further south.

Their battle with the unknown enemy had drawn unneeded attention to their squad and Jiraiya knew they were operating on limited time before someone was sent to deal with them. He had a feeling he knew who Gato would send. The Demon Brothers defeat the day before was proof enough where Zabuza was.

He thought they would have more time. Which was why wanted to take them to the bridge early the next morning.

'Just this once,' Jiraiya swore as he noticed Naruto's unmade bed and the fact she had never returned the night before. He would leave it due to circumstances. She had made it back in time for breakfast but she was unusually quiet, something no one commented on.

He was aware of the bridge builder, Tazuna. He was world renown as one of the best bridge architect in all the nations. He had the pleasure of seeing many of his creations but nothing on the scale of his current project. His work was daring and deadly. He was going up against Gato and that was a death sentence in and of itself.

Gazing at the unfinished bridge, Jiraiya knew he had been correct to bring the three here. What this man was building was not just steel and concrete. He was building hope, inspiration, a dream for a better future. Against all odds, he was fighting for something he truly believed in and was willing to lay down his life for it. Regardless of the threat, no matter the difficulty, even if no one was there to help…one must gather the strength to follow their dreams, to do what is right and be willing to die to see them fulfilled.

To Jiraiya, this is what it meant to be a shinobi. The will to never give up

His gaze lingered on the two youngest of the team.

Never give up indeed. The Will of Fire was strong in those two.

///

"This is a bridge?! It's humongous! I can't even see the other side!" Naruto exclamation rang out, drawing looks and chuckles from many of the workers.

Jiraiya stood back, admiring the bridge's span with his students. She was correct, this was a marvel.

"It'll be the largest bridge in all the nations, connecting our island to the mainland. We'll be able to travel and trade at cheaper expenses." A rough voice spoke from behind them.

Well…he didn't look like a bridge builder that was for sure. Seka was sure he had ever smelled something so foul before. The man had a bottle of sake in his hand and it wasn't even 8! His gaze turned to the bridge suspiciously, doubtful of its integrity after seeing the builder.

The Sannin let out a hulking laugh having caught his student's expression of doubt. He'd have to have a discussion on looking underneath the surface.

A hiccup escaped the man's lips before he began speaking again. "What are a bunch of shinobi doing here?" he seemed to be squinting at Naruto in concentration, like he couldn't make out her figure. "Is that pipsqueak even old enough to be a shinobi? A runt if you ask me." The man laughed before taking another long swig of his sake.

Naruto was raging, there was no way this man just questioned her status!? "Who the hell are you calling a pipsqueak, you drunk bastard!"

A challenging smile took over the builders face. "You can't be more than what, 6? 7?"

"I'll kick your ass!" she prepared to strike the man, intent on demonstrating her ability to him first hand.

Jiraiya was quick to intervene. This was not a place to start a fight. "This man is Tazuna. He is the Master Bridge Builder and the mastermind behind this bridge."

Disbelief was obvious across all three gennin's face. No way was this man the mind behind this masterpiece!

Ignoring his team's reaction for now, Jiraiya addressed Tazuna's first question.

"We were passing by on a mission and I thought I would stop so my team could witness this creation and what it means: both the dedication and the danger."

Tazuna became somber at the mention of the danger.

Knowing the great risks this man was taking, Jiraiya offered to take a look at the designs to see if he could incorporate protection seals into the structure to prevent it being damaged in an attack. Bridges were always the first to be destroyed in wars.

"That man seriously built this!?" Naruto exclaimed, not even bothering to hold in her contempt for the man who had insulted her. He was a drunk asshole and she couldn't understand how someone like him could build something as marvelous as this. The only thing she had comparable to the bridge was the Hokage Monument.

Kyo rolled his eyes as he glared at her. "You should know not to judge people on how they appear. It might get you killed one day."

She bit her lip, holding back her retort. Yesterday's events assaulting her vision. She knew that and yet-

"People are going to underestimate you because of your age." His sharp eyes pierced her memories, drawing her back into the present. "Make them regret it but don't follow their foolishness. You make them remember you."

Seka stared at the two in wonder. He was sure he was missing something, he always seemed to be missing something between these two. He started when his own name came into the discussion.

"-the downfall of a shinobi isn't what they don't know. It's what they believe they know. Do you underestimate Maeko because he's mute?"

"NO! That doesn't mean anything! Seka's strong even if he can't speak."

"Exactly. We are only a few weeks out of the Academy and he has already mastered multiple doton jutsu and developed his sensory past normal gennin standards." Seka knew the compliment was in there even if his teammate wasn't looking at him. "The second it's discovered he can't speak, the enemy will disregard him. And that will be their death."

Seka could see where Kyo was going with his explanation. Naruto could be too hotheaded at times, too careless about her safety. He could see why they would want her for infiltration missions. Honestly, and he would never let her know this, she didn't look like a kunoichi, she barely looked 8. He knew she had lived a hard life, harder than he could ever imagine but somehow she had managed to maintain her childlike aura. No one would ever suspect her of being anything other than a little girl if she could reign in her short fuse.

"You're young and a kunoichi. People will underestimate you and it's your job to use that to your advantage." Seka thought he was being too harsh on Naruto. This had been a civilian and with the events of yesterday, no one was really focused at the moment.

~I think that enough.~ He didn't like the look on her face. Out of all them, Naruto was definitely the most affected by yesterday's events. She didn't need a lecture right now.

"No it's not. She needs to learn. You both do. This isn't game. Do you remember how you felt yesterday? To be utterly sure of your deaths, unable to move, unable to do anything?" Kyo was angry and Seka wasn't sure he was comfortable around the younger boy. "That's what's waiting for you out here. If you don't learn, you die. You need to take every advantage you have."

Kyo was staring hard into cerulean and brown eyes. This whole caring thing was new to him and for some reason the thought of their deaths made his heart race, and not in the good way. Naruto he could understand, if she died he died. Maeko was different. He was of no importance to him yet Kyo couldn't stand the thought of him dying out here.

Naruto had yet to respond which was worrying. She was never this quiet, always willing to start an argument with Kyo. When she did speak, it was not what they were expecting.

It frustrated her to no end and the fact that she had been so useless the day before frustrated her even more. She had prepared for this, she had been training for this since she was little. And what did she do? She froze and the second she did, she became a liability to her team. If it hadn't been for Jiraiya and Kyo, she could've died.

"Was it true? What he said yesterday?" she was standing there, fists clenched and eyes blank.

Kyo rolled his eyes. Of course this was what was bothering her. He leaned over the railing of the unfinished bridge, debating on if he should tell her. It didn't make any difference to him if she knew.

"Yes." Came his eventual reply.

"Then why can't I remember?"

"What you choose to forget is not my concern. You survived, that's all that mattered." He had yet to move, his focus on the water flowing below them.

He was shaken from his spot when he was roughly turned around by his collar. He starred into blazing yes, full of passion and anger and confusion.

"How old was I?" Naruto demanded. She had to know. She thought she could find the answers last night but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall anything of the incident. If she had done that, not even the Sandaime could've protected her.

Her hands lost grip as the red head shrugged her off him.

"That's irrelevant." His blatant dismissal stung. But she didn't have time to worry about it anymore. The mist began to thicken, chakra potent in the air. Something Kyo and Seka were quick to pick up on.

It was only a few seconds but the mist was so thick now, they could barely make out each other let alone their sensei a couple dozen meters away.

It was only thanks to Kyo, Seka and Naruto weren't beheaded as the large sword came flying at them from the mist. They didn't have time to hear where it landed as they had to separate to dodge the oncoming senbon. Kyo found himself closer to Jiraiya and the bridge builder while Seka and Naruto were a few meters ahead. It seemed the enemy was trying to separate them.

Seka moved closer to his teammate, the fog making him uncomfortable. While his hearing had improved, the mist was almost too dense to see anything over a meter in front of him. He could clearly make out Naruto but the others were blurry, shrouded by the mist. He felt vulnerable, helpless, as no one would be able to see his signs.

Jiraiya noticed him moving, relieved he had realized the disadvantage he was placed at. They would be no help to him scattered and easy targets. The two were not ready for a battle against someone of Zabuza's caliber. And the mist was playing at this weakness.

"Momochi Zabuza. Kiri has been looking for you for some years." The man was skilled at masking his chakra. Jiraiya could see why he was called the Demon of the Mist. His guard was up. They couldn't be his target though. No one could identify them. So he must be after the bridge-builder. "Kyo, protect the bridge-builders. If he's working for Gato, he'll be after them."

If possible, the mist grew even thicker. "So you are the Toad Sage Jiraiya. I didn't believe the rumor going around you took on a gennin team."

"I'm not the only one with a student it seems. Senbon aren't really your style Zabuza."

Everything was silent, each group waiting for the other to make the first move.

Seka and Naruto stood with their backs to each other. He had her facing the others while he faced the direction he sensed the senbon thrown from. They had heard Jiraiya say there was another enemy out there.

"I have no qualms with you and your team, Toad Sage. Just hand over the bridge-builder."

The two Kiri missing-nin appeared on the bridge, in between the three groups.

Kyo maneuver himself between the missing-nin and the group of workers. Jiraiya knew what he was doing and this was their time to prove themselves. The bridge builder wouldn't die.

Jiraiya knew he needed to stop the fight before it began. His mission had been to deliver a message to the Demon of the Mist, not engage him. "The Mizukage has been looking for you. She revoked your missing-nin status. They won the rebellion."

"That's nice of them but I enjoy my life too much to go back to the village. I'm better off if they really made that woman Mizukage." There was a hint of doubt and disbelief in his voice, not quite able to picture that woman leading the village. She was too temperamental, too hotheaded, too emotionally unbalanced.

Clearing his throat rather awkwardly, Jiraiya responded, "I'm actually doing this as a favor. Mei Terumi asked me herself to find you and deliver her message. And what a fine woman she is!" Almost as a afterthought, not meant to have been spoken aloud, he mutter, "She does have a mean punch though. Reminds me of Tsunade."

Naruto felt her mouth drop open in disbelief. Seriously? "You were peeping on the Mizukage! You pervert!"

Her sensei turned to argue against those allegations. "It was in the name of research! And boy did I get some good material! Hehehe!"

"Can you take anything seriously, Pervy-Sage!? Annoyed wasn't a strong enough word to describe what Naruto was feeling right about now. They were on this mission because her sensei had been caught peeping!

Jiraiya scoffed, "Says the girl whose attention span is worse than a puppy!"

"Maybe if you were a better sensei!"

'clang'

A clash of blades rung through the mist halting all conversations.

"If you children are done, we still have to protect the drunkard." Kyo pared his kunai with Kubikiribōchō with little effort. His muscles were reinforced with chakra, giving his small body a well needed advantage in battle.

Nodding her head, though they couldn't see, Naruto turned to Seka with her plan.

"I need you to stick close to me, direct me to bandage face and we'll attack while Kyo distracts him."

It was a good plan, something Seka had to admit. The mist gave them the advantage too; they couldn't see the enemy and the enemy couldn't see them.

**···  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Battle between Naruto and Seka against Haku. Naruto makes a life changing decision and someone dies.  
> Warning for suicidal thoughts towards the end. A little more violence, blood, etc. Seriously, there's some messed up issues about Haku I've come to realize writing this chapter

It was two against four, they had the clear advantage in the battle but there were also civilians that could become collateral damage in the ensuing battle. With that in mind, Naruto sent out Shadow Clones as she followed Seka. Nothing needed to be said, they knew their mission.

They were barely a meter from her when she felt them disperse. SHIT! Zabuza's partner was fast!

With only a second notice, unable to give a warning, Naruto watched as Seka took a side kick to the ribs, the force sending him from her vision, "SEKA!"

There was no time, the masked shinobi was in front of her. A quick duck and she almost didn't dodge the attack; she could feel her hair whip in the opposite direction as a few strands were caught.

She was able to dodge the next attack as well, a kunai now in hand. They clearly weren't going to be able to help Kyo and Jiraiya.

"You're fast, not many could dodge those attacks." The voice was monotone, giving away nothing. Naruto glared at the man, the voice identifying their gender, as senbon gathered in his hand. "But I'm afraid that's as far as I can let you go."

Bring her kunai up in defense, Naruto dared him to make his move. She was caught by surprise before but now that she was prepared she would show him just how fast she was.

Squaring off, the two waited with baited breath, the sound of the battle taking place across the bridge echoing around them. Impatient, Naruto made the first move. Flinging her kunai, she embedded her wind chakra behind it to increase the speed. As it left her hand, she disappeared with it.

'clang'

"Aaggh! Dammit!" She held her arm in pain: Two senbon had penetrated her right arm. 'How? I didn't see him move!?'

But he clearly had because her kunai was deflected and she had two sendon in her arm! Glaring at him, she ripped out the offending objects. The pain was mostly gone, an annoyance. They had missed any major structure.

"I'll give you one more chance…give up the bridge builder and we will let you live." He prepared a handful of senbon for his next attack.

The feelings from yesterday resurfaced but she fought them down, she was better than that, Kyo's words from earlier filling her with determination, "Make them remember you."

Placing her hands in a familiar position, Naruto glared defiantly at her enemy, "I won't run away!"

Five clones popped into existence around her and with little prompting attacked together. The real Naruto kept her eyes on her enemy, not allowing them to stray in case she missed anything. She was down to two clones when she realized their plan had worked.

The ground cracked open, a hand reaching out for the nearest foot of her enemy. Inwardly, Naruto cheered her teammate. He had seen her plan and acted like she knew he would. With him gone, they could get to the rest of their team.

Seka knew there was a limited time frame for success. He had studied the masked man while he fought Naruto and knew he was fast. To get the upper hand, they had to be faster and catch him off guard. His hand grasped at the exposed ankle, briefly touching it before he found a senbon moving through his hand, pining it to the bridge. A silent scream of pain took over his face as his free hand came to remove the needle.

"SEKA!" How could he have anticipated Seka's attack? They had been so careful. Her remaining clones rushing in to attack, herself not far behind.

The masked shinobi grabbed his hand before he could touch the senbon, "I see now that I was wrong in my calculations of the two of you." His grip tightened painfully and Seka found himself thrown in the direction of his teammate. Bracing for impact, he was able to maneuver his injured hand into a protective embrace before he hit the clones and the solid mass of Naruto. His momentum was too much for her and while she caught him, they both fell backwards onto the ground.

"I won't hold back." The two watched in awe as he began hand signs with one hand, arming his other with more senbon.

Seka and Naruto stare in awed confusion as mirrors made of ice began to form around them too quickly for them to attempt to escape. She helped him up as he cradled his left hand delicately. The needle hadn't hit any major artery or nerve so he considered himself lucky. The wound was just painful and made jutsu and signing difficult. For now he would allow Naruto to take the lead while he tried to find a way out of this mess.

"It was not my intention for our battle to come to this but you leave me no choice." He melted into the mirror, his image reflecting off every mirror. "I do not wish to kill you but for Zabuza I will become the shinobi he needs!"

Naruto prepared herself, her clone technique on the tip of her tongue while Seka readied a kunai in defense.

/

Jiraiya and Kyo dodged another water attack, landing near each other, Kyo still near the bridge builder, as Zabuza once again disappeared into the mist.

"It would be easier if you'd just let me kill him!" Kyo growled at Jiraiya. His temper was on its last thread. This game of cat and mouse was pointless to him and he didn't like not being able to see Naruto.

Jiraiya knew it would be easier to kill the missing nin but he had given his word to Mei that he would try and reason with the man. For some reason she adamantly refused to give up on the man. She wanted him back in the village by her side.

He listened for signs of the other battle but couldn't make out anything. He knew Seka and Naruto were still fighting as he could sense their chakra but he had heard Naruto scream earlier. He didn't know who the boy was that was traveling with his target. He had to be someone special to have caught the Demon of the Mist's attention.

He hushed his student; he knew Kyo was impatient because of the other battle going on but he needed to learn to trust Naruto on her own. "We need him alive. He could be a valuable ally in the future. Now calm yourself. Naruto can take care of herself, she's strong."

Kyo's ears twitched as a chuckle echoed around them, "That pipsqueak doesn't have a chance against Haku. He'll be merciful and give them a quick death."

The air thickened around them as all their thoughts turned towards the occupants of the other fight. Zabuza was steadfast in his belief that the little girl wouldn't survive the fight. She had no place in the shinobi world.

A humorous scoff escaped Jiraiya turning the attention back to him. "If there is one thing I've learned," he stared directly at where Zabuza was hidden in the mist, "Is you never count out Uzumaki Naruto!" His eyes steeled in his belief in his student.

/

Two thuds penetrated the silence as their bodies hit the ground.

"I can't track his movements! He's too fast!" a frustrated Naruto groaned as she struggled to get up. Every one of their attacks failed against Haku. If he was fast before, it was nothing compared to his speed now. Even with dozens of clones, nothing could get through, not even with her Shunshin.

Getting up to attack again, she was met with the same result: senbon sticking out of every part of her body.

Cursing her weakness, she turned to Seka. He wasn't fairing any better and she could tell his hand was really bothering him. They had to end this soon.

Seeing them start to slow, Haku focused on one more attack to end this battle. Zabuza needed him.

Seeing the telltale sign of his attack, Seka put his remaining strength into creating a barrier between them and the attack. He knew it wasn't perfect, he'd had only been practicing it for a couple weeks but it was his last option.

The wall appeared, blocking the frontal assault but doing nothing against the rear assault.

They both collapsed to the bridge once again, exhausted and in pain. Naruto refused to admit defeat as she commanded her body to get UP!

"It's pointless. Your body has past its limit. If you get up again, I will have no choice but to kill you."

Naruto refused, she refused to give up! If she died, she'd die standing, looking her enemy in the eye. She knew her body couldn't take much more of this. Her loose T-shirt was plastered to her torso with blood and senbon, her pants in much the same fashion. Every movement hurt, every breath was agony, but she repeated the same mantra over and over in her head: _I've been through worse, I've been through worse_.

Physical pain was nothing compared to mental torture. It was temporary, all she had to do was push past it.

She would push past this! Grinding her teeth, she pushed herself to her feet, hands on her knees as she caught her breath. Hunched over, she failed to notice to incoming attack. Seka, aware of the danger, frantically reached out for her ankle, using what strength he could to pull her down.

A moan of pain escaped her lips as the senbon already in her body were driven deeper in by the fall.

Glancing at her partner, Naruto had one last idea but Seka couldn't be in here. She had to get him out. Leaning closer so he could hear, she whispered her plan to him. Knowing he was at his limit, Seka agreed to the plan…hopefully, once he was outside the dome he'd have enough chakra left for one more jutsu.

Using the fact that Haku couldn't see them properly, Seka began the plan.

"Your plan will not work. I see everything…I am everywhere."

Where was he?! Both looked around wildly as he disappeared from the surrounding mirrors.

"Just finish it Seka! Leave him to me!" Naruto knew they didn't have time. She wasn't sure why they weren't dead yet but she didn't want to test their luck. Running through the hand signs, Naruto released her jutsu, "Futon: Kami Oroshi!"

The gale force winds whipped around her in the confined dome. She knew it wasn't enough to defeat him but if she could level the playing field by getting him out of those mirrors, she might have a chance.

She waited with baited breath as the jutsu died down. The winds had destroyed the area of the bridge encased in the ice prison but the mirrors were still standing and there was no body.

Haku appeared again in front of her, his appearance slightly windblown. "In the end, he was too slow. His hands couldn't form the signs fast enough for his jutsu." His voice was still monotone but there was a hint of sadness lacing his words. "He was brave, a true shinobi."

Was? What was he talking about?

Heart racing and eyes blown wide, Naruto turned to where she had left Seka.

No…nononono…this can't be happening! He was supposed to get out!

With energy not there before, Naruto found herself running to her downed teammate, looking desperately for a pulse.

"Come on…come on Seka!" She cradled his body to her own. 'Kami, not again. Please, not again.'

Haku observed the kunoichi as she cradled her teammate's body. A sense of sorrow entered his heart as he took in her grief. "Is this the first comrade you've lost to battle? This is part of what it means to be a shinobi."

Naruto tried so hard to keep her tears from falling. She _knew_ this would happen. It always happens. You let people close and they leave you. She was so sure this time would be different, she _really_ wanted it to be. The tears didn't fall, no, her anger was greater than her sorrow.

_"Give in to your hatred. Punish those who make you suffer!"_

He killed Seka, he deserved to die!

She could feel her chakra flowing through her body, could feel the strength of Kyo's chakra running through her system. Chest heaving, she turned to her opponent, he had enough time to see her blood lust red eyes before she disappeared from in front of his eyes.

'Wha-?!'

The mirror he was in shattered before he had time to process her movement fully. As the shattering pieces fell, Naruto prepared her next attack.

'Air Bullet'

Multiple bullets of air rushed out of her mouth in quick succession. Aimed towards the mirrors, there was no way he could escape as every exit was cut off from the attack. Knowing this would happen, Naruto used shunshin, appearing in the center of the chaos.

'I have to end this!' Haku knew something had changed, he had miscalculated this girl.

Mirror after mirror shattered as an enraged Naruto used shunshin to quickly destroy his kekkai genkai.

'Now's my chance!' Haku knew, could sense, that if he didn't finish this battle now, it would be his last.

Coming out of the falling glass, he prepared the killing blow.

'Forgive me.'

His senbon pierced into her carotid, a killing blow. Pulling it out, he prepared another blow for a faster death.

_Poof_

Shock quickly followed by fear took over. It had been a shadow clone!

A similar bullet of air smashed into him, sending him flying from their battle ground.

He felt her move behind him, her shunshin one of the most advanced he'd ever seen. He could see her eyes, they were no longer red but they still held the bloodlust. "This is for Seka!" Another blow had him kissing the ground and Haku could feel what was left of his mask breaking. He had lost…He was broken…He was no longer useful.

Struggling to stand, Haku prepared himself for his death. His mask lay shattered on the bridge, his identity exposed to the world. His betrayal exposed to her.

Narutowaited for her opponent to get up. She would allow him a proper shinobi death. He would die standing.

Her anger seemed to fade as she took in who exactly she had been fighting, "It's you!? Bu-but, why?" She was so confused. How could he be her enemy? She let out a scream of frustration, "You knew who I was this entire time so why did you help me!? Why didn't you just kill me yesterday when you had the chance?"

Haku allowed a dry chuckle to escape his bloody lips, "You believe killing comes so easy? You kill for a reason…what reason did I have for you to die?"

Her anger returned, "What reason was there to kill Seka!?"

Haku's eye's dulled. "You threatened Zabuza's mission. For him, I will become the shinobi he needs."

"So you just do anything he says? Why?"

A small smile took over his face, a bittersweet smile, as he remember a different time, a time he was unwanted. "Because of my kekkai genkai, my father killed my mother and tried to kill me. I had to kill him and I became unnecessary. I wandered around unwanted with no reason to exist…Zabuza found me and made my life necessary again. I had a reason to exist. If someone truly acknowledged you, wouldn't they become your most important person?" He face fell as he thought of recent events. "I have failed him. Zabuza has no use for a failed weapon, I have no further use…please…kill me."

_"You can call me Uchiha Shisui. What does the Princess go by?"_

'Shisui…' Naruto felt like she could understand Haku a little better. That feeling, the emptiness, it was suffocating and she'd do anything to never feel it again.

"Please…you're eyes, I can tell we're the same…kill me."

Naruto took a step back, hesitation written across her face. Her conviction wasn't as strong as it was a few minutes ago; she wasn't sure she could do it.

Seeing her waiver, Haku was able to convince her with what he said next, "If you don't kill me now, you take the chance that I won't come back and kill another of your loved ones. If Zabuza requires it, even as a broken weapon, I will fulfill his desire."

The burning anger was back at the reminder of Seka's death. She knew if she looked, she would still be able to see his body. "This is the only way?"

A relieved 'Yes' escaped his lips as Naruto moved forward with her kunai. She would do this for both of them: him and Seka.

She drew closer, kunai poised for the fatal blow.

She was even closer and her conviction waivered…she couldn't kill him. She saw past her hatred, her hurt.

Haku saw her hesitation and stepped forward to meet her, his hand coming up to hers, assuring the killing blow. She wasn't tall enough for her arm to be level with his heart but he made sure the angle was enough to reach its destination.

Feeling the hand slip around her trembling ones, Naruto turned frightened eyes into reassuring ones.

He felt the tip enter his chest, missing his heart but a wound he knew he wouldn't come back from nonetheless. He felt…free. Leaning down, his body suddenly felt a thousand pounds heavier but his soul a million times lighter. His head rested on Naruto's, his mouth near her ear, close enough to say his final words.

"Thank you."

Horrified eyes widen as the whispered words washed over her becoming acutely aware of the blood flowing down her hand and dripping to the ground. She distantly heard her name being called but she could only focus on the final, rattling, warm breath that ghosted past her face and the body in front of her beginning to fall.

Someone was calling her name, she was pretty sure of that but her body couldn't move.

She felt dizzy, the world was spinning in and out of focus. Nausea set in and bile rose up faster than she could fight it down. Knowing she couldn't look at the body at her feet intimately, collapsed to the other side, heaving what little was left in her stomach.

**···**


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The conclusion to the battle on the bridge and the team gain a powerful ally. Naruto learns what it truly means to be a ninja and she vows to forge her own path.

Clashing of metal rang through the air as kunai met sword.

“You’re not a normal gennin.” It was an observation Zabuza had made watching the student and master interact. Their dynamic was different from the other two. This kid was defiant, almost like Jiraiya was keeping him on a leach.

Kyo’s eyes flashed as he sensed his chakra being used nearby. A snarl ripped across his face. With what seemed like little effort, Kyo pushed back, slashing a deep wound across Zabuza’s chest. It wasn’t a killing blow but it would give Jiraiya time to talk with the man so he could finally get to Naruto. Something was wrong, very wrong.

A quick Shunshin, had him in the middle of what he assumed was their battlefield but it was quiet, too quiet for a battle. His eyes surveyed the area, picking up two still bodies and one shaking body. Pieces were falling in place as his mind recreated the most likely scenario. Seka was a distance away from the others, indicating he had fallen first. With the destruction of the bridge around him, Kyo correctly guessed that this is when he felt his chakra unleashed. Naruto’s emotions must’ve been out of control, understandable if she saw Seka taken down. Stepping closer, Kyo could see the blood pooling around the two.

So, she killed the boy. He could honestly say he wasn’t expecting that of her.

“Naruto!” He watched her fall with the body, heaving her stomach contents onto the bridge.

Bypassing the bloody body of Zabuza’s partner, Kyo took a moment to examine Naruto. She looked a little ragged, her clothes ripped and blood stained, but other than that she looked fine. She should thank his chakra for that.

“Naruto,” he said a little more forcefully this time. Tired of her reaction, he grabbed his container’s arm and hauled her to her feet where he could give her a better once over.

Her eyes were glazed over, unseeing. She was useless to him for the time being, so removing his hands slowly to make sure she wouldn’t fall, Kyo left her to check on their other teammate. Though it was obvious what had happened, he still had to confirm it.

Jiraiya would not be happy…actually, this whole thing was his fault. It was his idiotic determination that they ‘talk’ with Zabuza that led them to being separated in the first place.

Seka was collapsed, senbon littering his body. It was easy to see the killing blow; the single needle piercing his neck.

Looking him over, he could see they had been outmatched. It was unfortunate luck for the masked nin, how he lost. He had made the mistake of angering Naruto and that was his downfall. Calloused fingers wiped the blood from the young face before beginning the task of removing the senbon from his body. Gripping the single senbon in Seka’s neck, Kyo pulled it out with little resistance. Blood followed the weapon, a small dribble running down his neck.

Odd, Kyo thought. Given how long Seka should’ve been gone, the blood should’ve started to coagulate.

Placing two fingers to his neck, Kyo felt for a pulse to confirm his suspicion. There!

A smirk threatened to cross his face at the deviousness of his enemy, stopping short of congratulating him in his mind.

He had struck and compressed the carotid enough to mimic death. Seka should be conscious in a few seconds. Maybe this kid would be useful after all.

Kyo move to pull out the remaining senbon, feeling generous.

The fog was lifting, revealing the two older shinobi in the distance and the bridge builders a little further ways back. Zabuza was still standing, hand trying to stem the blood flow from his wound, shoulder slightly forward.

Pathetic. It was barely a flesh wound.

Now they could finally get back to their mission. The faster that got this shit done, the faster they could return to the village. It wasn’t something he ever thought he’d admit, but there was too much drama the last few day on this mission. The village and its distractions would be a welcomed relief.

“Don’t get up,” Seka had finally woken up; groggy but mostly aware it seemed. “Give your body time to circulate blood to your brain. I don’t need you passing out.”

Okay, not as aware as he originally thought. Seka looked at him in confusion and dazed eyes.

“Stay.” The village was looking better and better. Kami, he wanted to kill something.

Seeing his teammate understand, Kyo went to get his other teammate who looked to be finally snapping out of her shock.

He grabbed her hand, “Come.” He demanded, not giving her an option as he tugged her over to Seka.

With the fog finally lifted, the sun was peaking over the horizon, indicating that the confrontation had taken longer than expected.

“Hey! Listen to me. After everything you’ve gone through, you’re gonna break because of this? Because you defended your teammate?” Naruto’s eyes widened as she took in the conscious form of Seka who was slowing beginning to stand, ignoring Kyo’s previous order to stay. “You don’t mourn your enemy.”

 _Never_ , Kyo swore, _never give them that power_.

He could tell his words were having the intended effect as life came back to the previous blank face, body moving on its’ own accord. Her eyes hungrily taking in the teammate she thought she had lost. Beginning to accept that he was alive, Haku hadn’t killed him.

Joy. She felt joy.

Kyo’s ears twitched as he heard faint noises from the edge of the bridge. The current had picked up, the rush of water muffling whatever was making the noise. His gaze grabbed the others attention; Jiraiya, who had been walking over with Zabuza, sensed it as well.

“Gwhahah! The Demon Zabuza…what a pathetic disappointment. Here I was, coming to accept Tazuna’s head and instead I find you bloody and beaten.” A short, portly man with a cane began as he walked further on to the bridge, henchman following as more and more climbing on to the concrete.

He was a disgusting man, someone who enjoyed other people’s pain and suffering, but never got his hands dirty. Never got personal, too cowardly as he preyed on the weak and defenseless.

If there was anything Kyo hated, it was cowards who refused to get their own hands dirty. His nose scrunched in disgust, wanting to kill the man where he stood. It was easy to narrow down who the waste of space was in front of them: Gato, the man terrorizing these people.

Those black beady eyes moved over each of their figures until it landed on the prone form of the ninja Naruto had killed earlier.

“Hmph, looks like the brat wasn’t so powerful after all. I’m sorry I missed it!” he began to crackle in glee, head leaning back as the obnoxious sound exited his mouth.

Repulsive.

The man stepped closer to the body, closer to the trio. Naruto’s gaze was fixated on the man behind the tinted sunglasses, hatred clearly visible in her eyes. Kyo looked to his sensei. What was their plan? He was all for killing the man on principle alone but he knew that wasn’t Jiraiya’s way.

Jiraiya shook his head. They couldn’t do anything. Gato was protected. To the public he was just a businessman.

~Accidents happen,~ he signed.

Seka caught the hand movement, body barely standing on its own; his hair falling over his eyes with his bandana no longer holding it back.

Jiraiya shook his head again. The village didn’t need another political dispute.

Naruto ignored the silent exchange taking place next to her, hands balling into fists as she watched the man – no, he wasn’t a man – the insect disrespect Haku. Kind, gentle, Haku, who she had killed.

An expensive shoe, something that would cost Naruto five months of savings to buy, nudged the cooling body before rearing back, pointed tip ready to drive into the unprotected side of Haku’s body.

Shock was visible on all the faces on the bridge at what they saw happen next. Faster than they could blink, the man’s shoe was intercepted, held in a crushing grip of hands that didn’t even fit around the entire circumference.

Gato was still standing, barely holding his balance as his sunglasses slipped down the bridge of his nose.

“Don’t. You. Touch. Him.” Naruto growled, eyes blazing blue, anger all her own.

Weapons drew around them as the surrounding men prepared to attack to get their boss back. They hesitated though. The girl was fast; she could kill him before they ever got to her.

Jiraiya cursed the day he ever took this team as Kyo let a smirk cross his features, the corners of his mouth stretched to reveal sharp canines.

“You’re just going to let this man – this piece of trash! – get away with doing that to Haku?”

“He’s dead. He failed me. There’s no point in dying over him.” Zabuza stated emotionlessly as his gaze never left the body of his apprentice.

Another growl escaped Naruto. “Haku loved you! You meant everything to him and you’re telling me you feel nothing?! You really only thought of him as nothing but a tool?” She yelled at the man, demanding to know, to understand what he had done to earn such loyalty, such devotion.

“I have no use for a broken tool.”

Naruto tightened her grip on the foot, throwing him between the two. Gato’s men stood back, unable to move.

“Then you’re an even bigger piece of garbage than this guy,” her anger was overflowing, as she advanced forward. “Haku _lived_ for you! And you’re telling me you felt nothing for him?!”

Jiraiya moved forward to stop this before his student attacked. “Naruto-.”

“No, that’s just messed up. That’s just…”

She couldn’t even get the words out. How could someone treat their student that way, someone who loved them unconditionally? Was that what it meant to be a ninja, to be emotionless? To disregard life so easily?

“Your words cut deeper than any sword. You don’t need to say anymore.” Zabuza’s voice cut through, laced with emotion that hadn’t been present before. Her words finally getting to him. “Haku wasn’t made for this world, he was kind…almost too kind.”

The Demon of the Mist glanced over at Seka, the boy Haku couldn’t kill. Yes, he was too kind in this cruel world.

Kyo stepped forward, disregarding Jiraiya’s order to stand back.

“Then show us you cared. Kill him.” He indicated to the mess of a man, trying to stand with one foot, Naruto having broken his other.

“You can’t – you can’t do that! Do you know who I am?” the rat demanded as he scrambled for his life, realizing the situation he was in. “Attack them! What are you waiting for you morons? Kill them all!”

His men hesitated, unsure but their greed won out. Gato was their pay check and if he died, they didn’t get paid.

“Ahahhhahahhh!”

He was still bleeding but Zabuza knew he had had worse. The wound wouldn’t kill him unless left untreated. He had strength enough to take on these pathetic weaklings.

“Kyo! Don’t.” Jiraiya order Kyo; they needed Zabuza to take out Gato.

“Argh! Are you serious, Pervy Sage?!” Naruto shouted, enraged. “He can’t take them all on by himself!”

She was furious and wanted to defy her sensei but everything he had said the last few days was on repeat in her head. It was his order and she had to obey. She didn’t move from her spot.

Jiraiya saw all three of his students rooted in their spot, unmoving despite the desire to help. A smile crept across his face.

“That was a test to see if you would follow my command even if you disagreed with it. You all passed.” Frowns turned almost merciless at this. “Now, let’s take this garbage out!”

The thugs didn’t have a chance. Between the four of them, the entire group was wiped out in a matter of seconds. Seka stood with Tazuna, still recovering his strength, unable to assist.

They stood back as Zabuza cornered Gato. The pathetic man begging for his life, promising the man riches and women and anything he wanted. His empty promises were ignored, Kubikiribōchō slashing him across the chest. Blood falling to the ground, gushing out of the man’s body as he collapsed. Zabuza knelt beside him, razor teeth on display. “That’s for Haku.”

They watched him pull back, approaching them wearily. But it wasn’t them, it was Haku, he was moving towards.

 _He’s crying_ , Naruto thought in disbelief.

Here was a man she had claimed to be an emotionless piece of garbage and he was now weeping over his apprentice’s body. She didn’t understand!

“As shinobi, we have a duty to protect our village and comrades. As humans, we have a duty to save others, to give them second chances. Sometimes the measure of one’s strength is not in their ability to kill but in their ability to feel compassion. Some enemies could one day be allies.” Jiraiya somberly stated as he watched Zabuza gently caress Haku’s unmoving, blood soaked face. He stood at attention, allowing the man time to grieve for his lost comrade and friend. His team following his lead.

“But the Shinobi Code states –.” Than why had she killed Haku? His lecture the day before made it clear, she needed to protect the mission, she couldn’t blindly follow her heart. Now…he was telling her to follow her instincts!!? Her heart clenched painfully at the thought she had been manipulated.

“I don’t want you to follow someone else’s code. This mission has tested you beyond what I intended. You have seen and experienced more in these last two days than most gennin do their entire career.” He looked over each of them, noticing the difference from the last two days. They had grown up. These weren’t the kids who had left Konoha days ago. “I want you to take this experience and make your own Nindō to live by. I believe in you. All of you.”

Silence followed his declaration as they watched the Demon of the Mist shed tears.

A Nindō?

Naruto stepped forward. She was still recovering from what she had done but she knew what she had to do. Shoving down the overwhelming urge to empty her stomach again, she stepped between the three groups.

“I won’t run away. I won’t go back on my word. I’ll protect those I love till my last breath. That’s my Nindō.” She stared at Zabuza, willing him to understand how much Haku had shaped her Nindō.

He turned to study her. He had been wrong about her from the beginning. He had written her off as insignificant, a child playing ninja. He should’ve known better. She had to be barely older than he had been when he slaughtered over a hundred Academy students.

“Konoha calls it the Will of Fire. If there is such a thing, Haku entrusted his to you. Show the world his compassion.” He turned to Kyo next, “Aim a little deeper next time kid.”

The remaining two groups watched as the missing nin gathered Haku in his arms and walked away as snow began to fall.

 _Haku…is this you?_ Zabuza paused to feel the frozen water touch his skin. The cold caressing his skin, almost to tell him it was going to be okay. A bittersweet feeling took over but there was hope, always hope.

It was time to go home.

“Is it really a good idea to leave him alone? He is a missing nin wanted for the attempted assassination of the Yondaime Mizukage?” Kyo was curious about the old man’s actions. Most ninja’s would’ve killed the man as a precaution. He was dangerous and a liability. Whatever he did now was on them.

Jiraiya turned to smile at his student. “I have a good feeling about him. The Mizukage was not someone many would mourn. His reign of terror saw countless children murdered pointlessly and the shinobi forces more divided than ever. It’s only been a few months but I’ve already seen the steps Kiri has taken to change.”

Seka could barely stand. He had seen the battle between Naruto and Haku, had taken part in some of it. He wasn’t sure he could ever get the image of her killing him out of his mind. He wasn’t sure about his position on this team anymore. He wasn’t sure he belonged there anymore. He thought he had known his teammates but after the last two days, he wasn’t sure of much anymore. Their conversation from earlier was coming back. What had she done and why was it bothering her so much? Who exactly was Kyo?

A deep voice broke him out of his thoughts. Jiraiya had seen the indecision on his face and knew they couldn’t keep it a secret anymore. “I think it’s time we sit down and talk. There are certain things you need to be made aware of.”

Jiraiya didn’t doubt his student’s commitment nor his loyalty to his team. He deserved to know about Naruto and Kyo.

The mist had lifted over the bridge, the snow fluttering down, and silence still permeated over the area. Most of the workers were still in shock that Gato was really gone, that their village was saved. They could hear the waves lapping at the foundations of the bridge. The sun had yet to fully rise.

///

It was quiet, too quiet, yet she couldn’t bring herself to break it. There was no point. There was nothing to say.

If what had happened in the past felt anything like what she was feeling now, she didn’t want to remember. She didn’t want to go through this. Nothing could be worse than what she was feeling. Her hands were bloodstained. She was a killer. No one made her do it. She had killed Haku; the decision had been hers to make, hers to fulfill.

She couldn’t close her eyes; his smile burned into her retinas, his grip pulling her kunai deeper into his body, assuring her conviction. She could feel his last breath on her face, his last words ringing through her ears as if from a megaphone: _Thank you_.

He imparted something in her so great, she wasn’t sure how to thank him besides living her life exactly protecting those who mattered to her. He was a gentle soul in a cruel world. Zabuza had confirmed as much and if there was one thing she could do, it was ensure she became the strongest she could to protect her precious people.

“It doesn’t get any easier. Taking a life should never be easy.”

“But you still have to take it?”

Jiraiya looked off into the distance, remembering similar conversations at different points in his life.

“We are shinobi. It is our duty to bear the burden no one else can. So no one else has to. It’s not glamorous but we ensure those we love are safe. The moment you stop feeling this pain, is the moment you lose yourself. This anger and sadness and hopelessness you feel…I want you to let it consume you this once. And then I want you to remember how this felt and use it. Don’t let it consume you next time. Use us and we’ll shoulder this burden with you. When you feel lost, look to us and we will pull you from the darkness.”

“How? My heart, it feels like its breaking.” Her voice cracked at her confession. “I feel like I want to die. All I can feel is his blood, all I can see is his eyes, all I can hear is his last breath!

Jiraiya looked on as his goddaughter began to cry.

“How do you do it? It didn’t even phase you when you killed that man.”

His eyes grew heavy at the reminder. Each death was different. Each held a separate meaning that he used to compartmentalized. He only afforded his enemies a brief thought before he shoved them into the deepest part of his mind. Many of them didn’t deserve a second thought, the things they had done. To be honest, he wasn’t sure how many he had killed himself. Being part of two wars, he couldn’t afford to let enemy deaths bother him.

To him, he compromised with his compassion. He tried to see the good in those he met.

He had to explain this how she would understand it.

“Are you sad Gato’s dead, that some of his men are dead?”

She didn’t even have to think about it. “No.”

“And why is that?”

She had stopped crying, reduced only to hiccups now. “He was a bad person. He had innocent people killed. He terrorized these people.”

“So he deserved to die?” Jiraiya was curious about her answer. He knew what Kyo’s answer would be but he didn’t think Naruto’s would be the same.

She bit her lip, as the last tear fell from her face.

“I don’t know if anyone deserves to die…but I’m not sad that he did!”

He smiled at that. He was right.

“It doesn’t seem like it but there is a difference between judgement and actual emotion. When you take a life, make sure you take it for the right reasons.”

The two moved into a comfortable silence, the cool evening air blowing though their hair in a relaxing manner. The village was empty, all available hands helping at the bridge now that the threat of Gato and his men was gone.

“You knew my dad, didn’t you?” Her question was unexpected, throwing Jiraiya off for a moment. “You were his sensei.”

This was not a discussion he thought he’d be having so soon.

“I knew Minato and your mother, Kushina. We had a good relationship; I was made your godfather before you were born.” Wistfully lost in his memories, the older man leaned forward, elbows on his knees. Naruto’s eyes widened, that she hadn’t know. “They were two of the greatest people I ever met.” His eyes finally turned to look at her. “They loved you so much and they would be proud of the kunoichi you’ve become.”

She felt her face heat up as she suddenly found her hands extremely interesting.

“I know…I met him, my dad.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays!  
> Yes! Finally! Zabuza did not want to be written, thankful he is gone for the foreseeable future. Let me know what you think.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a glimpse into both Naruto's and Seka's past

Naruto’s eyes grew distant as she began to recall that moment all those years ago. She hadn’t told anyone the complete story of Kyo’s release, it was too personal.

“You were told of the attack, how Kyo appeared?” She knew he had, it was just a delay for her to get her thoughts together. “I don’t remember much from that day. There was a chuunin and he did something because my muscles were so weak and my chakra was going crazy. The next thing I remember, I’m at the seal, ready to tear it off. Before I could, someone forced me away.”

Jiraiya breathed a breath of amazement, “He had time to seal a portion of his chakra inside the seal.”

“It was my dad, my dad’s the Yondaime Hokage!” A smile spread across her face. It was still hard to believe even after three years of knowing. “He told me about mom and Kyo. Someone attacked them when I was born. He said… ‘only someone with knowledge of jinchuuriki would know to attack when mom was giving birth.’” Naruto squinted her eyes in concentration. It was hard to remember their conversation. She hadn’t been focusing on his words at the time, only that he was there and she could touch him.

“We figured something like that. It was too calculated for anything else.” The Uchiha Kyo was talking about, the one he wanted to kill…was this the man?

“The man separated us to get to mom and that’s how he released and took control of Kyo.”

The sun had since set, the light from the moon illuminating the duo. So engrossed with each other, neither had noticed the time elapsed.

Finally confessing the truth her father had told her, Naruto noticed something she had never thought of.

“He said when a jinchuuriki loses their biju, they die. Does that mean if I try to free Kyo, I’ll die?” She didn’t want to die but she had given her word to her best friend that she would do everything in her power to free him one day.

“Uzumaki’s are stubborn and it doesn’t surprise me that Kushina was able to hold on after the extraction. Regardless of her strength, she would’ve eventually died. In jinchuuriki, the biju’s chakra is woven so integrally into the existing chakra network that the disappearance of it would cause the body to fail. When the biju leaves, whatever chakra remains internally begins to kill everything at a cellular level. Most jinchuuriki remain alive only seconds after the extraction.” As a seal master and the one who helped transfer the Kyuubi into Kushina from Mito, Jiraiya had studied this extensively. “If you released Kyo, even with your genes, you’d only have minutes at most.” Jiraiya concluded solemnly, glancing back in the direction he knew the subject of their conversation was located.

Naruto couldn’t accept this answer! There had to be a way! She stated as much to her sensei.

He wanted to believe there was a way but he had spent years researching it; he had concluded long ago that this was absolute.

“Dad altered the seal and nothing happened to me!” Her hotheadedness was back. She was on her feet glaring at him. “I could create a secondary seal to overlap the current one and –.”

She was brash, too brash. “If you mess with the seal without knowing the full design, you run the risk of destroying your chakra network or worse, dying.” Seeing her about to argue again, he finally had enough. Pinning her to the ground, he lifted her shirt to reveal the seal. “Minato and Kushina gave their lives to create this seal, to give you the power to survive! Minato used his remaining chakra to seal a portion of his conscious away. Are you that selfish that you would throwaway their sacrifice so carelessly! Like it meant nothing!?”

Roughly shoving him off her, she stormed off. She couldn’t admit that he was right. But what could she do? She had made a promise.

Resisting the urge to pull his hair, Jiraiya carded his hand through it instead. ‘Why couldn’t she be more like Minato? She’s too hotheaded.’

He wasn’t worried about his goddaughter. She would cool off by morning and see he was right. She just needed time to think things through. Many bombshells had been dropped tonight and he didn’t think he’d get to bed or get much rest with how fast his thoughts were swirling.

The information provided him leads they had been looking for, for the past decade. Someone had attacked the envoy and killed Biwako and the ANBU. There had been much debate that the seal had failed and the Kyuubi had killed them before moving to the village. He’d always thought differently. There was no way Minato would’ve let the seal fail. Someone with knowledge of jinchuuriki, attacked them at their weakest. They had threatened Naruto, there was no other way for the two to have been separated. Sarutobi had given him all that he had known.

He had rushed back to the village once he had gotten Gerotora, who was in a panic about the Kyuubi. Sarutobi informed him of Kushina and Minato’s dying actions and their daughter’s name.

Daughter. It had been a foreign concept to him. Everyone had been so sure it was going to be a boy.

He held her in his arms, her small body dwarfed by his large hands. He had never seen something so innocent as he stared at her sleeping face marred by whisker marks.

He remembered taking her to the funeral. She deserved to attend, these were her parents. She had slept through the entire event.

A majority of the village had been in ruins but he had needed to find out what happened. The safe house the couple had owned on the outskirts of the village had been found destroyed, the site of the extraction had recently been discovered, and the final battle site had already been gone over. If the Kyuubi had broken free from the seal, it would’ve appeared in the cave, not miles away! And it was clearly summoned into the village so someone had to have been controlling it.

But there had been no proof, no evidence to back up his theory.

Until now.

“Looks like Icha Icha Violence is taking a back seat for the time being,” Jiraiya mourned. And he had really been looking forward to his research for his second novel.

He retreated back to their shared hotel room where he found neither of the boys asleep.

“It’s past midnight and you aren’t out partying…I’ve failed as your sensei!” The atmosphere was so tense even his usual theatrics did nothing to help. Hanging his head, Jiraiya figured now was a good time to give them, well Seka, a new jutsu. Digging around in his bag, the sannin pulled out two scrolls and threw them to his brown haired student.

Catching them, Seka threw a confused look to his sensei. They were rough, clearly well used.

“Those are new jutsu. I want you to read them over tonight and be prepared to practice tomorrow morning.” Without even acknowledging him, Jiraiya addressed Kyo. “I think we need to talk.”

“I’m actually feeling tired.” A fake yawn stretched across Kyo’s face as he leaned back in his chair, half-lidded eyes daring Jiraiya to make a move. “Why don’t we talk tomorrow?”

Seka, already uncomfortable, tried not to fidget at the obvious disrespect his teammate was showing their sensei.

Still not looking at the arrogant demon, Jiraiya moved out of the door, his wooden sandals clanking against the worn wooden floor.

“That’s fine with me. Then you can explain to Naruto why you didn’t tell her your part in her parent’s deaths.” His student had made a decision and he was going to hold him to it. In the meantime, he was going to find a good bar and get piss drunk and find a nice looking woman, or a couple.

Kyo lost his balance in his seat, the legs scraping against the floor as it threatened to fall from his quick movement. The Toad Sage was gone before he could change his mind. ‘Damn it! That bastard played me.’ There was a reason he had never parted with that information.

Brown eyes stared at him, fear evident though he tried to hide it. “I’ll be back.” And like that, Seka was the only one left.

A sigh escaped his chapped lips, his shoulders sagging with relief. A new emotion overcame him: worry.

Just a week ago, Team 7 had been a tightknit group. Sure, there were arguments here and there between Naruto and their sensei and snide comments from Kyo, but they had worked together. Seka had trusted them to have his back and he believed they trusted him for the same. Now…he had never seen the team so divided and honestly? He wasn’t sure they could come back from this. He had seen Naruto after she had killed Haku. She looked broken. The bits and pieces he had been able to pick up surrounding Kyo was not painting a good picture and he wasn’t liking the conclusion he was coming to. And their sensei…he had never seen the man so serious. He, like Naruto had been, didn’t understand what he was trying to teach them. First he said the mission was number one priority then he said to make their own decision.

He was talking about treason. To disregard an order because it didn’t sit well with you…you get banished for stuff like that.

His stomach twisted in knots at the thought. He wanted to be a ninja, he had nothing else he could do! With five hours until sunrise, Seka tried to distract himself with the jutsu scrolls. Inevitably, his mind kept wandering back to Naruto. He was worried about her. He was more scared _for_ her than he was _of_ her. He knew if the situation was reversed, she would be out there looking for him, trying to make him feel better. With that thought, Seka placed his scrolls in his back pouch and walked out the door, closing the weather oak slab without glancing back.

···

It wasn’t hard to find her. Despite disclosing very little about herself, Seka could read her like an open book. He could tell exactly what she would be doing, the only thing it seemed she knew how to do when she was confused: train.

To do that, she would need an open field because she liked to be destructive and he was sure the villagers wouldn’t appreciate their property getting destroyed. So she had to be pretty deep in the surrounding forest.

With his sensing ability, he felt some satisfaction that he was right. He walked into twenty Naruto’s fighting each other with a few gorges in nearby trees, he could only assume from her futon jutsus.

Walking closer, he made sure to step on a few sticks so she knew he was there. Her eyes darted to his silhouette in the tree line, dispelling her clones until there was only the original.

Seka approached, his eyes drinking in her appearance, focusing on her eyes. After two weeks of almost 24/7 training together, he had picked up on the best way to read his partner. She may smile but it was her eyes that told what she was really feeling.

~Need partner?~ He had learned on one of their many night spars that Naruto had very good night vision so he wasn’t worried about her not understanding.

Naruto hesitated. She didn’t want to hurt him.

Seeing her hesitation, Seka knew just how to get her to agree. ~I’ll go easy.~

Her eyes narrowed at his smirk, taking the bait just like he planned.

···

They fought into exhaustion, or at least Seka’s exhaustion. Naruto never seemed to tire. Each of them got a few decent hits in, the left side of his face already telling him he was going to have a nice shiner there.

She always talks but it’s like she never says anything. They function remarkable well as a team, each member knowing the other’s abilities. But as people outside of the team? They might as well be complete strangers.

The cool night was passing, bringing in a dampness and dew indicative of the approaching dawn; the stagnant smell of salt blowing in the wind, keeping them from sleep. Maybe they could watch the sunrise together.

Seka knew he wasn’t one to pry, whatever problems his teammate were having, he was confident they could solve it. At least, that was what he had believed. Over the last few weeks, these three people had become his family, something he had been missing for years. And he didn’t want to lose them.

~My parents were killed in ambush.~

His hand moved to gently touch his throat, to the scar that had taken away his voice.

Naruto tensed, angling her body to better look at him, unsure why he was parting with such information now. A melancholy smile graced his features as he remembered that day, more specifically his parents.

“You said your mom was a kunoichi but your dad…wasn’t?” Everything had blurred together from that night, the night of survival training.

~Merchant.~

“Why would someone attack your family?”

Naruto knew that there were bandits that attacked unsuspecting merchants but a kunoichi should be able to handle them no problem.

Seka didn’t know why they had been attacked, hadn’t really known much of anything.

~They just came out of nowhere and started attacking everyone. I was the only survivor.~

He refused to let his hands shake. It had been years and he had come to terms with his loss but the trauma of feeling someone slowly slice your throat open never leaves you, no matter how hard you try to forget.

~I woke up in Konoha Hospital a few days later.~

He shrugged, ending his story.

The Sandaime had been there when he awoke, breaking the news of his family. He had cried and cried and cried until he passed out from the pain radiating from his throat. He had been less distressed and more levelheaded when he next awoke, the Sandaime explaining that he could stay in the village and go to school if he wished.

Having no other option, Seka took the offer and he was given a tutor, a kind Hyuga, who taught him sign language and the beginnings of how to use his chakra to communicate.

Naruto didn’t know what to say to this confession. He reminded her of Sasuke and how he had lost his entire family, only you couldn’t see his scar. His lived under his skin, buried in his very bones, visible to those who knew where to look. Seka’s were more obvious, baring the physical scars for the rest of his life.

It was like the old man put them all together for a reason, to show how messed up all their lives were. Yet at the same time, this was how they understood each other. They shared the same pain, knew the same loneliness…and it made them stronger.

She moved closer, her aching muscles protesting at the movement. When she was within distance, she collapsed against Seka and drew him into a hug, the only comfort she could give. There were no words she could speak, no promises she could make that would erase the scars her teammate carried.

Seka wrapped his arms around her as well, reciprocating the comfort as they both released themselves into exhaustion. Naruto’s blond hair fell on his back, hitting his face as she buried hers deeper into his neck, hot breath puffing out every few seconds.

“I’ll tell you my story, just not today…part of it isn’t mine to tell.”

He would accept that and had known Kyo would have his own history tied into Naruto’s.


End file.
